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Wisconsin company to offer microchip implants to its employees

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11–20 of 74 posts

Re: Wisconsin company to offer microchip implants to its employees

#11
post #4

OK, maybe I'm old or old-fashioned or just not creative enough... But what exactly are the advantages of this implant over NFC-cards or something like Apple Pay? That I cannot forget my card or my phone? I don't even know when this last happened to me...

Hygiene and safety, I would guess. A card in a lanyard can get caught up in all sorts of machinery and even a wristband can be slightly difficult to keep clean.

Make the band from the right metals and it keeps itself hygienic

Re: Wisconsin company to offer microchip implants to its employees

#12
post #4

OK, maybe I'm old or old-fashioned or just not creative enough... But what exactly are the advantages of this implant over NFC-cards or something like Apple Pay? That I cannot forget my card or my phone? I don't even know when this last happened to me...

Hygiene and safety, I would guess. A card in a lanyard can get caught up in all sorts of machinery and even a wristband can be slightly difficult to keep clean.

Um, almost the same applies to hands and arms.

Re: Wisconsin company to offer microchip implants to its employees

#13
post #4

OK, maybe I'm old or old-fashioned or just not creative enough... But what exactly are the advantages of this implant over NFC-cards or something like Apple Pay? That I cannot forget my card or my phone? I don't even know when this last happened to me...

OK, this is Wisconsin, but for one Apple Pay is not available everywhere outside of U.S.

> "Something like Apple Pay"

Meaning a smartphone app to authenticate, instead of a lanyard or keycard.

Re: Wisconsin company to offer microchip implants to its employees

#14
Can someone explain why people prefer implants over rings? Functionality wise it's same: read on RFID tag, maybe with some light computation.

People wear rings all the time, application is painless, easy to change once compromised or if there is a new model, and provides same features. Chips would have advantage if they would provide better IO, but currently they don't.

Re: Wisconsin company to offer microchip implants to its employees

#15
post #3
post #2

The title is, of course, misleading. They are offering employees a microchip implant. It's not required. Still crazy that anyone would opt-in to do this, but a misleading headline all the same.

I dunno, I'm surprised you thought it was mandatory. Pretty confident in the state of Wisconsin you cannot force someone who does not have life threatening ailments surgery.

The original title is "Wisconsin Company To Implant Microchips In Employees", which is different from the current "Wisconsin Company To Offer To Implant Microchips In Employees".

The difference is not so subtle; atfirst I assumed too that it was mandatory.

Re: Wisconsin company to offer microchip implants to its employees

#16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hygiene and safety, I would guess. A card in a lanyard can get caught up in all sorts of machinery and even a wristband can be slightly difficult to keep clean.

Make the band from the right metals and it keeps itself hygienic

My new startup makes employee id bracelets out of sterling silver with embedded rfid chips encased in sapphire, for tech startups that can't figure out how to spend their VC money.

Re: Wisconsin company to offer microchip implants to its employees

#17
post #4

OK, maybe I'm old or old-fashioned or just not creative enough... But what exactly are the advantages of this implant over NFC-cards or something like Apple Pay? That I cannot forget my card or my phone? I don't even know when this last happened to me...

Its attached to the user semi-permananetly (not an advantage). Perhaps the customers (the business) are assuming because its implanted it can't be substituted like a smart card and therefore is somehow more secure, which of course it isn't.

Perhaps it does up the threshold for misuse, but still doesn't eliminate it completely.

Re: Wisconsin company to offer microchip implants to its employees

#19
Meh. I got an rfid implant in 2010 ish, but took it out after a few years because there were so few benefits. If there was a universal standard maybe, or if the range was > 10 cm, or if it had more than a few bytes of memory. I think most people who got a chip implant over the last 10 years came to the same conclusion. The only applications that show up in the press every now and then are like this - for payments. But never something that is widely available.

It's great to get yourself labeled a freak though. I got mine done in a a piercing shop, and when I walked in, the place was full with people with dozens of facial piercings, stretched earlobes and full arm and neck tattoos. But as soon as I mentioned the chip implant and showed that I was serious by showing the actual one I wanted put in, they all started murmuring and looking at me like I was send back in time from the year 2210. The owner wasn't sure how to feel when I pulled out a laptop and rfid reader and grinned like an idiot when I successfully logged on to the machine by waving my hand over the reader.

Re: Wisconsin company to offer microchip implants to its employees

#20
post #2

The title is, of course, misleading. They are offering employees a microchip implant. It's not required. Still crazy that anyone would opt-in to do this, but a misleading headline all the same.

I don't see any immediate problem with that assuming taking it out is relatively painless and there's no cost associated. I'd like to have one so I wouldn't have to worry if I have office keys with me, instead I could just scan my arm at the door. I've never left my hand at home.

Its still a medical procedure and has anyone done an analysis of the risks ok we do it to pets but fido isn't going to sue you if bad stuff happens.
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