“A tech company in Wisconsin is gearing up to become the first in the U.S. to offer microchip implants to employees — and more than 50 workers have already signed up so they can make in-house purchases, open doors and unlock office equipment,” Joshua Rhett Miller reports for The New York Post.
“Employees at Three Square Market in River Falls, which provides self-service kiosks for break rooms or micro-markets, are set to get implanted with a tiny chip that uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) to allow them to do a wide variety of tasks instantaneously,” Miller reports. “The chip — about the size of a single grain of rice — can be implanted ‘within seconds’ between the user’s thumb and forefinger. The program is optional for all employees, but the company said it expects more than 50 staffers to participate in the company’s inaugural ‘chip party’ at its headquarters on Aug. 1.”
“The microchip inside a user’s hand would function as his or her credit card. Each chip costs $300 and is being supplied by the company. The data stored on the chip is both encrypted and secure, said [Three Square Market Chief Executive Officer Todd] Westby, who said privacy concerns won’t be an issue,” Miller reports. “There’s no GPS tracking at all,’ he told the station.”
Read more in the full article here.
“Just as people are able to purchase items at the market using phones, Westby wants to do the same thing using a microchip implanted inside a person’s hand,” Josh Rosenthal reports for KTSP. ‘We’ll come up, scan the item,’ he explained, while showing how the process will work at an actual break room market kiosk. ‘We’ll hit pay with a credit card, and it’s asking to swipe my proximity payment now. I’ll hold my hand up, just like my cell phone, and it’ll pay for my product.'”
“Along with purchasing market kiosk items, employees will be able to use the chip to get into the front door and log onto their computers,” Rosenthal reports. “No one who works at Three Square Market is required to get the chip implant.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Like it or not, it’s the next logical step. At first, it’ll even be optional. Welcome to a Brave New World. We’re surprised it hasn’t come sooner.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
