Current Events > Thousands of people in Sweden get microchips for a new way of life

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2145896/thousands-people-sweden-get-microchip-implants-new-way-life

Small implants were first used in 2015 in Sweden and since then people have become active in microchipping

A tiny microchip inserted under the skin can replace the need to carry keys, credit cards and train tickets.

That might sound like an Orwellian nightmare to some but in Sweden it is a welcome reality for a growing number who favour convenience over concerns of potential personal data violations.

The small implants were first used in 2015 in Sweden initially confidentially and several other countries. Swedes have gone on to be very active in microchipping, with scant debate about issues surrounding its use, in a country keen on new technology and where the sharing of personal information is held up as a sign of a transparent society.

Twenty-eight year-old Ulrika Celsing is one of 3,000 Swedes to have injected a microchip into her hand to try out a new way of life. To enter her workplace, the media agency Mindshare, she simply waves her hand on a small box and types in a code before the doors open. It was fun to try something new and to see what one could use it for to make life easier in the future, she said. In the past year, the chip has turned into a kind of electronic handbag and has even replaced her gym card, she said.

If she wanted to, she could also use it to book train tickets. Swedens SJ national railway company has won over some 130 users to its microchip reservation service in a year. Conductors scan passengers hands after they book tickets online and register them on their chip. Sweden has a track record on the sharing of personal information, which may have helped ease the microchips acceptance among the Nordic countrys 10 million-strong population.

Citizens have long accepted the sharing of their personal details, registered by the social security system, with other administrative bodies, while people can find out each others salaries through a quick phone call to the tax authority.

The implants use Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, also used in credit cards, and are passive, which means they hold data that can be read by other devices but cannot read information themselves.

Although still small, they have the capacity to hold train tickets, entry pass codes as well as access certain vending machines and printers, promoters say.

When Celsings innovatively minded media company organised an event where employees could get the implants, she followed the crowd. She said she felt nothing but a slight sting when the syringe inserted the chip into her left hand, which she now uses on an almost daily basis and does not fear hacking or possible surveillance. I dont think our current technology is enough to get chip hacked, she says. But I may think about this again in the future. I could always take it out then, she adds.

However, for Ben Libberton, a microbiologist working for MAX IV Laboratory in the southern city of Lund which provides X-rays for research, the danger is real. The chip implants could cause infections or reactions of the immune system, he warned. But the biggest risk, he added, was around the data contained in the chip. At the moment, the data collected and shared by implants is small, but its likely that this will increase, the researcher said. The real question, he added, is what data is collected and who shares it. If a chip can one day detect a medical problem, who finds out and when? he asked. Libberton worried that the more data is stored in a single place as could happen with a chip, the more risk it could be used against us.
---

But Jowan Osterlund, a piercings specialist and self-proclaimed champion of chip implantation, brushes off fears of data misuse and conspiracy theories. He advocates the opposite view, arguing that if we carried all our personal data on us, we would have better control of their use. Despite unanswered questions however about how the technology will progress, the appeal of being part of a futuristic experience is a strong draw for some users. In Sweden, people are very comfortable with technology and I would say there is less resistance to new technology here than in most other places, Libberton said.

At an implant party organised by Osterlund in Stockholm, 59-year-old Anders Brannfors stands out with his salt-and-pepper hair among the curious 30-something hipsters. Delighted to have become a 2.0 version of himself, he has yet however to find a use for his chip several weeks after the implant.
---

Huh. There will be those who see this as the end times. Mark of the beast
---

LastTomorrow posted...

Huh. There will be those who see this as the end times. Mark of the beast

It was kind of weird reading about how open apparently things are there, that (at least according to this article) you can get information about a fellow employee by calling official government bureaus >_>.
---

What? I dont get this
---

FF_Redux posted...

What? I dont get this

Where's your chip at bro

I actually do remember reading about this a few years ago. This guy got it just to see what it was like, and he said it was really unnatural and uncomfortable trying to just open a door because of how you had to hold your wrist up to the reader.

Maybe they worked that out now (or maybe he was dumb. Hard to tell).
---

Huh?
---

I wonder how many people horrified at this also actively use fingerprint, facial recognition, apple/samsung pay, integrate and synch all their online accounts together on a single device, etc.
---

I won't mind when 24/7 surveillance kicks in

crimes will drop and there won't be any more false accusations
---

I think it's a great idea but I'll stick with my keys and debit card thanks
---

Make that fucker remember all my passwords and I'll get one
---

Great, all they need now is a panic button under the skin to be used when assaulted.
---

That might sound like an Orwellian nightmare to some but in Sweden it is a welcome reality

This quote has so much potential

Mark of the Beast. NFC communication is really easy to crack too. It's an always on switch broadcasting your information 24/7. That couldn't possibly go wrong, lol.
---