Um, what?! I just read this article and freaked out a bit. There’s a company in Wisconsin that is implanting tiny radio frequency chips into the hands of its employees so they can, “make purchases in their break room micro market, open doors, login to computers, use the copy machine,” says the company, 32M. I’ve seen this “futuristic-type” thing in movies and I know it’s been around for awhile, it just seems so creepy to me. I don’t want a company implanting anything in my body!
The company says that while it’s not mandatory, they think about 50% of their workforce will get the chip. They say that it’s the way of the future and they are basically trendsetters by launching it first. All of the awesome things it can do seem beneficial, but I think I’ve watched the Borne movies too many times to be comfortable with it. They say they can’t track their employees with it, but it doesn’t seem that far fetched to me. If it can do all that other fancy stuff, certainly it can track my every move, right?
And what about the health implications? Is it safe? I know we wear gadgets and play with technology constantly that probably emits the same type of radiation or radio waves or whatever sciency-thing our devices do, but it just seems like I’m safer with my skin as a barrier. Is that silly of me to feel that way. How safe do you think this is?
“We foresee the use of RFID technology to drive everything from making purchases in our office break room market, opening doors, use of copy machines, logging into our office computers, unlocking phones, sharing business cards, storing medical/health information, and used as payment at other RFID terminals. Eventually, this technology will become standardized allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc.”
Do you agree? Would you do it? Do you think it’s crazy or cool? Do you think this will be the standard in a few years and I’ll look back on this post and laugh?
Your chip-free friend,
~Mavis
Leanna says
Nope, not ever going to do this.
Revelation 13:16-17 NIV It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
I guess I will be bartering when the time comes.
LISA says
Revelations was no more about the end of the world than Animal Farm is about talking animals. It was a commentary about the political climate at the time it was written. The number of the beast was a numerological representation likely of the Roman emperor at the time.
Cheri says
Whether you are wrong or right, this is too close to the Bible’s descriptions for many of us and is not worth arguing theologically.
Lauren says
Agreed!
History does indeed repeat itself, but this is rather creepy and pretty much word for word…
Practical Parsimony says
Thank you!
JoAnn Moran says
My thoughts exactly.
Chelle says
As someone that lives in the area of this company I think this is too much hoopla about a small thing. However it sure is lots of great free advertising for this Tech business and the town! I have no doubt that is absolutely will not track gps. I mean the people with the implant would own the company by the time the legal fiasco was over!
This was actually already done by a Swiss comapny in 2015 to 150 employees and we have never heard any bad press about it. All we heard was all the noise when they were implanted.
I really do think with as connected to technology as the young people are that this very well may become standard down the line. I personally dont want one but hey my phone and fitbit are already tracking me!
Cheri says
Yes, all I can think is “mark of the Beast.” I don’t think THIS particular thing is the “mark,” but it is certainly way too close for my comfort. I don’t think I’d even want to work for a company that did that; however, I can see it being the wave of the future as we skip on our merry way to something far worse. Such things have been going on for decades, and it happens so slowly, we don’t realize it until we wake up one day and wonder how we allowed our society to get where we are today. The erosion of our privacy is a great example.
Gail says
I say, “NO”. I’m in the crowd of it being part of the slippery slide to the mark of the beast.
Rosaleen says
This is a door that I don’t want to see opened, with a few exceptions. Diplomats, Special ‘forces, and other people sent to high-risk areas where they might be kidnapped perhaps should have some sort of chip to help in locating them in emergencies. Of course, anything we can come up with can be countered, but we still have to try.
Dana says
I don’t think it’s the mark of the beast or anything like that but, NOPE.
“We foresee the use of RFID technology to drive everything from making purchases in our office break room market, opening doors, use of copy machines, logging into our office computers, unlocking phones, sharing business cards, storing medical/health information, and used as payment at other RFID terminals. Eventually, this technology will become standardized allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc.”
There are already multiple ways to do all of these things without implanting a chip into your body.
What happens when we find out later that the implant makes people sick or something similar?
No thanks.
FarmGirl says
I saw this article yesterday and said no way would I do that! I think technology is sometimes frightening. When is enough going to be enough? Are people so lazy that they can’t even be bothered with cash or wallets? And how can that be healthy? And I also am in the mark of the beast group. Plus have these people not watched futuristic movies? Everything is always tracking you.
Karin says
I think it’s creepy and is just one more thing contributing to our loss of freedoms (by everything we do being logged in and tracked). No thank you. I am curious to see if 50% of their employees do this voluntarily. I’d be surprised if they really do.
Robin says
I too, like you Mavis, would rather be chip free. It might be the wave of the future, but it’s to George Orwell’s 1984 big brother watching me for me. The only chips I want are Lay’s!
Tami says
Nope, no and no. They already connect/have concerned about those chips in dogs leading to tumors or cancer. I choose to do it anyway as I feel the safety reasons outweigh the risks. Our lifespans are so much longer, giving time for the chips to do more damage. No thank you!
Joely says
No and No. Way too 1984 for me. Let’s keep a shred of our privacy in this digital age. No company, job, or other entity can have access to my body.
Crystal says
As far as safety goes, we’ve been implanting microchips in dogs, cats, and other pets for years. If there were horrible side effects from doing so, we’d know about it by now.
I wouldn’t have any problem with getting something like this. Current GPS technology is such that I don’t think it would be able to be used as a GPS tracker- it certainly isn’t possible with the microchips we use for dogs (though I would love it if it were!). It only works when scanned. All of my pets have microchips, and I wouldn’t do more than read the provided info before getting one if it was something my company offered.
Amanda says
This. For all the other naysayers, all this is is a chip that contains a number. Whatever is scanning your hand is doing the work of looking up how much cash you have to pay with and if you’re allowed to enter the building, there’s no GPS or tracking built in. The range is also such that you practically have to physically touch the scanner.
If my company offered this, I’d be in. Never have to worry about forgetting my keycard again? Awesome. They already track how much enter the building with the card… And they can already grab my phone information and location from me accessing the wifi if they wanted to. So what.
Anna G says
My cats have chips.
Terri says
My cats have chips, but this human won’t get one. Having spent 40 years in tech, I can assure you they will be tracking their employees at some point.
Catherine says
Agreed. I don’t see why this is needed when badges already perform the same functions, can be limited to work place tracking, and have the photo for security to boot. In theory, an RF chip doesn’t have GPS/bluetooth/wifi capability (they are very different tech, requiring batteries that RF doesn’t)… but that doesn’t mean that the chip you get is the one you think it is.
(Also, since someone asked, pretty much all chips are made in Asia, and no you do NOT want those jobs moving here. All circuit production requires toxic materials, notably lead solder. That all gets sealed in which makes it safe to touch or impant, but there is pretty much no such thing as a nontoxic circuit board. I imagine if pets are getting sick, it’s because the device is poorly sealed and there’s lead leeching out. Non-lead solder exists, but it’s not very good and very expensive too. Oh the joys of living with a consumer electronics engineer…)
I feel like Terminator references might be more appropriate than Bible verse… ? Matrix would also be good, or for the more literary-minded, Robopocalypse (written by an actual AI researcher). But Wall-E is my favorite if we’re calling humanity lazy. 😉
mable says
I don’t even carry a cell phone because I detest the idea that people can track me down or somehow keep track of me. I look at people hooked to their phones like addicts on heroin and I feel free!
Practical Parsimony says
I certainly don’t think this has anything to do with the Mark of the Beast! I do notice they have this attitude that “everybody will be doing it” sort of like a temptation to be on the cutting edge. I am not on the cutting edge of anything. I willfully lag behind on technology.
There is talk of using chips in children to find them if they are kidnapped. WHAaaat? So, now we don’t have to watch our kids so closely. I say put chips in known child predators.
When a cat or dog can live 50 years without any deleterious effects from a chip, maybe I will decide this is safe. All sorts of toxic metals are used in tech. until now, none have been put under our skin. I intend to keep it that way.
Newer is not necessarily better. What is so wrong with the cards worn around the neck used for the same application? Would someone want to slice this thing out of me to get it to access the door this will open?
This is not for me at all.
Edwina Tichenor says
Consider this: WHO is manufacturing the chips? Is this like the ToysRUs products, which
were imported and later found to be full of lethal levels of lead? Or the imported pet food that
killed several animals? REMEMBER: Other countries DO NOT NEED
to ADHERE TO AMERICAN LAWS. also – Remember when (imported) cell phones first came out, and
people thought they were being tracked, and were put in mental hospitals? then later on,
Snowden spilled the beans that not only are cell phones tracking you, but your television is
capable of filming you, and hearing your conversations. No matter how innocent a chip looks,
there is always another level of microscopic-ness, in which something, we may not even be aware of yet,
technologically, could be looming – many governments want to see Americans and the entire US FAIL – and this would be an open doorway. Is it really so hard to use cash that you’d rather sell your soul, for a bag of Cheetos?
oh, and there’s the mark of the beast issues –
Anne Sullivan says
Mavis, have you read David Eggers book “The Circle” or seen the movie? If so, you wouldn’t want a chip implanted in your body. It is on a par with “1984”. Very upsetting.
Lynda says
I thought the same thing. I just read this book.
Sue says
NO WAY! This is to, to much.
Deborah says
NO.
Erin says
If they have to keep a lock on their copier, they have serious trust issues with their employees!
Absolutely not! It sounds and feels too much like they “own” you. They have effectively put a barcode on you! Employees are people, not robots!
Peggy Ann in CT says
I saw this on a CBS news program and in my head I was screaming “H-E-double hockey sticks NO!!!”
Emily E. says
Nope, nope and nope. I’m sorry but if you can’t even keep track of your ID badge, how responsible are you? Yes, we all may forget it from time to time, but I can’t see that it would justify the expense. And I don’t really want anything implanted in me.
Emily E. says
Oh yeah, and for anyone that’s watched The Belko Experiment…. no thanks!
Em says
No. I agree with the comment that a badge should do the same thing. And there are many more things already scanning rfid chips than most people are aware of. Maps that show traffic speed use this technology, I believe.
Deb k says
Creepy
Andrea says
As we have seen in the past, any new technology can have downsides despite it being manufactured for a good purpose. It does not take criminals long to learn the technology and then use it against you. Look at the issue with the baby cams and hackers getting into it. With this being inside your body, it makes it a little bit more difficult to say “shred” it like a debt card. Will you potentially have to cut it out of your hand on Saturday night because the office doesn’t open until Monday morning and someone has hacked the chip?
Linda M says
Absolutely no way!
Susie says
I’m surprised no one has mentioned the 70’s movie “Logan’s Run”. No way would I do this.
KAYTHEGARDENER says
I have read that some repeated dementia wanderers have now been chipped by their families…
Cass says
Ahhhh….no thank you. I hate needles and that one to implant that device is what my nightmares are made of.
I have no problem hanging on to a card for entry, payment and ID. I have no problem jumping through the hoops required if I forget or lose my card(s).
I’ll take a pass on being microchipped, thanks any way.