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TECHNOLOGY A23
Tuesday 4 April 2017
Cyborgs at work: employees getting implanted with microchips
JAMES BROOKS Self-described “body hacker” Jowan Osterlund from Biohax Sweden, holds a small microchip could get data about your
Associated Press implant, similar to those implanted into workers at the Epicenter digital innovation business centre health, you could get data
STOCKHOLM (AP) — The during a party at the co-working space in central Stockholm, Tuesday March 14, 2017. about your whereabouts,
syringe slides in between how often you’re working,
the thumb and index fin- Associated Press how long you’re working, if
ger. Then, with a click, a you’re taking toilet breaks
microchip is injected in the nologies, it raises security into their body, like pace- Near Field Communica- and things like that.”
employee’s hand. Another and privacy issues. While makers and stuff to con- tion (NFC) technology, Libberton said that if such
“cyborg” is created. biologically safe, the data trol your heart,” he said. the same as in contactless data is collected, the big
What could pass for a dys- generated by the chips “That’s a way, way more credit cards or mobile pay- question remains of what
topian vision of the work- can show how often an serious thing than having a ments. When activated by happens to it, who uses it,
place is almost routine at employee comes to work small chip that can actu- a reader a few centime- and for what purpose.
the Swedish startup hub or what they buy. Unlike ally communicate with de- ters (inches) away, a small So far, Epicenter’s group of
Epicenter. The company company swipe cards or vices.” amount of data flows be- cyborgs doesn’t seem too
offers to implant its work- smartphones, which can Epicenter, which is home to tween the two devices via concerned.
ers and startup members generate the same data, a more than 100 companies electromagnetic waves. “People ask me; ‘Are you
with microchips the size of person cannot easily sepa- and some 2,000 workers, The implants are “passive,” chipped?’ and I say; ‘Yes,
grains of rice that function rate themselves from the began implanting work- meaning they contain infor- why not,’” said Fredric Kai-
as swipe cards: to open chip. ers in January 2015. Now, mation that other devices jser, the 47-year-old chief
doors, operate printers, or “Of course, putting things about 150 workers have can read, but cannot read experience officer at Epi-
buy smoothies with a wave into your body is quite a big them. A company based in information themselves. center. “And they all get
of the hand. step to do and it was even Belgium also offers its em- Ben Libberton, a microbi- excited about privacy is-
The injections have be- for me at first,” said Mester- ployees such implants, and ologist at Stockholm’s Karo- sues and what that means
come so popular that ton, remembering how he there are isolated cases linska Institute, says hackers and so forth. And for me it’s
workers at Epicenter hold initially had had doubts. around the world where could conceivably gain just a matter of I like to try
parties for those willing to “But then on the other tech enthusiasts have tried huge swathes of informa- new things and just see it
get implanted. hand, I mean, people have this out in recent years. tion from embedded mi- as more of an enabler and
“The biggest benefit I think been implanting things The small implants use crochips. The ethical dilem- what that would bring into
is convenience,” said Pat- mas will become bigger the future.” The implants
rick Mesterton, co-founder the more sophisticated the have become so popu-
and CEO of Epicenter. As a microchips become. lar that Epicenter work-
demonstration, he unlocks “The data that you could ers stage monthly events
a door by merely waving possibly get from a chip where attendees have the
near it. “It basically replac- that is embedded in your option of being “chipped”
es a lot of things you have, body is a lot different from for free. That means visits
other communication de- the data that you can get from self-described “body
vices, whether it be credit from a smartphone,” he hacker” Jowan Osterlund
cards or keys.” says. “Conceptually you from Biohax Sweden who
The technology in itself is performs the “operation.”
not new. Such chips are He injects the implants —
used as virtual collar plates using pre-loaded syringes
for pets. Companies use — into the fleshy area of
them to track deliveries. the hand, just next to the
It’s just never been used to thumb. The process lasts a
tag employees on a broad few seconds, and more of-
scale before. Epicenter ten than not there are no
and a handful of other screams and barely a drop
companies are the first to of blood. “The next step for
make chip implants broad- electronics is to move into
ly available. the body,” he says.
And as with most new tech- Sandra Haglof, 25, who
works for Eventomatic,
an events company that
works with Epicenter, has
had three piercings before,
and her left hand barely
shakes as Osterlund injects
the small chip.
“I want to be part of the fu-
ture,” she laughs.q
