Thanks for your opinion, how do you feel about 'transhumanists' who have microchips inserted into their hands?
British companies are planning to microchip some of their staff in order to boost security and stop them accessing sensitive areas.
Biohax, a Swedish company that provides human chip implants, told the Telegraph it was in talks with a number of UK legal and financial firms to implant staff with the devices.
One prospective client, which cannot be named, is a major financial services firm with “hundreds of thousands of employees.”
”These companies have sensitive documents they are dealing with,” said Jowan Österlund, the founder of Biohax and a former professional body piercer. “[The chips] would allow them to set restrictions for whoever.”
The chips, which are about the size of a grain of rice, are installed via a syringe in the fleshy area between the thumb and forefinger. They cost £150 each and are
similar to those used for pets.
Mr Österlund claims the relatively painless implant surgery is safer than getting your ears pierced and takes “about two seconds”. He also believes the chips are less likely to be hacked because they sit beneath the skin.
“In a company with 200,000 employees, you can offer this as an opt-in,” says Mr Österlund. “If you have a 15pc uptake that is still a huge number of people that won’t require a physical ID pass.”
As well as restricting access to controlled areas, microchips can be used by staff to speed up their daily routines. For instance, they could be used to quickly buy food from the canteen, enter the building or access printers at a fastened rate.
“There’s no losing it, there’s no dropping it, there’s no forgetting it. There’s always going to be an ultimate backup,” said Mr Österlund.
The microchips use near field communication (NFC) - the same technology used by contactless bank cards.
Mr Österlund claims interest from companies in the UK has been so significant that he plans to open an office in London next year.
The idea has already taken off in Sweden where “implant parties” have become common among young people. Today, around 4,000 citizens are chipped, including 85 of the 500 employees at travel operator Tui.
Biohax has also partnered with state-owned Swedish rail firm, Statens Järnvägar, which has around 800 customers that use subdermal implants that allows them to travel instead of using a train ticket.
In 2017, Wisconsin-based Three Square Market teamed up with Biohax to became the first company in the US to microchip its employees. It offered to implant the chip into workers' hands for free and more than 50 people signed up during the initial trial.
Mr Österlund is aware not everyone will be keen on getting an implant at first. “It’s a learning curve,” he said. “If this came from a government, I’d be like yeah, you know what, no that’s not going happen. We’re a private actor, we’re doing this with our community, for our community.”
And he isn’t the only one.
Steven Northam last year became the first person in the UK to be fitted with a microchip.
The married father of one now has the technology fitted to both his home and his BMW Z4, which starts when his hand is on the wheel.
Like Biohax, he is offering the service to businesses and individuals who want to simplify their lives with technology through his company BioTeq.
His chips are more expensive, setting people back between £230 and £260 per person. Complete offices where employees can access doors or use equipment will cost upwards of £5,000.
All the directors at one of his companies Incuhive have already been chipped. “Everyone raves about the implants and how useful they are,” he said. “No more losing ID cards for work.
“It can have a huge impact on society and business...In the future, we’re all likely to have one
