Posted on 06/11/2016 12:53:20 PM PDT by MarchonDC09122009
Under My Skin: The New Frontier Of Digital Implants | Fast Company | Business + Innovation
http://www.fastcompany.com/3059769/ive-got-you-under-my-skin-the-new-frontier-of-digital-implants
Steven Melendez 06.11.16 6:00 AM
Under My Skin: The New Frontier Of Digital Implants "Biohackers" are putting microchips and magnets in their bodies for everything from unlocking the front door to detecting moon earthquakes.
Snip
Steven Melendez 06.11.16 6:00 AM
Tim Shank can guarantee he’ll never leave home without his keys. Why? His house keys are located inside his body.
Shank, the president of the Minneapolis futurist group TwinCities+, has a chip installed in his hand that can communicate electronically with his front door and tell it to unlock itself. His wife has one, too.
"You have mental checklists as you’re coming and going out of your home," Shank says. "One of those things is my wallet, keys, all those things I have with me. Once you start to eliminate all those things, you start to see all the mind space it actually clears not to have to worry about them."
In fact, Shank has several chips in his hand, including a near field communication (NFC) chip like the ones used in Apple Pay and similar systems, which stores a virtual business card with contact information for TwinCities+. "[For] people with Android phones, I can just tap their phone with my hand, right over the chip, and it will send that information to their phone," he says. In the past, he’s also used a chip to store a bitcoin wallet.
Shank is one of a growing number of "biohackers" who implant hardware ranging from microchips to magnets inside their bodies.
Some biohackers use their implants in experimental art projects. Others who have disabilities or medical conditions use them to improve their quality of life, while still others use the chips to extend the limits of human perception. Shank, for instance, has experimented with a portable distance sensor that vibrates a magnet in his hand; it's like a sonar system that lets him sense how far away obstacles are. He also considered installing a chip that would track his body temperature. But not every use case is so ambitious—for some, the chips are merely convenient ways to store data and unlock doors.
Experts sometimes caution that the long-term health risks of the practice are still unknown. But many biohackers claim that, if done right, implants can be no more dangerous than getting a piercing or tattoo. In fact, professional body piercers are frequently the ones tasked with installing these implants, given that they possess the training and sterilization equipment necessary to break people’s skin safely.
"When you talk about things like risk, things like putting it in your body, the reality is the risk of having one of these installed is extremely low—it’s even lower than an ear piercing," claims Amal Graafstra, the founder of Dangerous Things, a biohacking supply company. Amal Graafstra
Graafstra, who is also the author of the book RFID Toys, says he first had an RFID chip installed in his hand in 2005, which allowed him to unlock doors without a key. When the maker movement took off a few years later, and as more hackers began to explore what they could put inside their bodies, he founded Dangerous Things with the aim of ensuring these procedures were done safely.
"I decided maybe it’s time to wrap a business model around this and make sure that the things people are trying to put in their bodies are safe," he says. The company works with a network of trained body piercers and offers online manuals and videos for piercers looking to get up to speed on the biohacking movement.
At present, these chips are capable of verifying users’ identities and opening doors. And according to Graafstra, a next-generation chip will have enough on-board cryptographic power to potentially work with credit card terminals securely.
"The technology is there—we can definitely talk to payment terminals with it—but we don’t have the agreements in place with banks [and companies like] MasterCard to make that happen," he says.
Paying for goods with an implantable chip might sound unusual for consumers and risky for banks, but Graafstra thinks the practice will one day become commonplace. He points to a survey released by Visa last year that found that 25% of Australians are "at least slightly interested" in paying for purchases through a chip implanted in their bodies.
"It’s on the minds of people," he says. "It just needs to be brought to fruition."
Does our future hold government telling us: "Citizen, do your part to chip in!"
BTW, The World Bank and governments around the globe have been meeting annually for the past seven years to push RFID for All citizens.
Here’s this past year’s conference promo:
Accenture and World Bank ID4D launch study at the eID Conference.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2015/09/23/eid-conference
Accenture and World Bank ID4D launch study at the eID Conference.
September 28-29, 2015@ Washington Marriott
About eID Conference,
This year the 7th edition of the eID Conference (former National eID & ePassport Conference) will be hosted in Washington, DC, USA, on the 28th-29th of September 2015.
300 government delegates together with the brightest minds in the industry, come together from all around the world, in Washington, to discuss the foundation and evolution of a global eID infrastructure, based on the digitalization of citizen ID documents.
About Identification for Development (ID4D) Integration Approach,
Recognizing the transformational potential of 21st century ID systems for the delivery of basic services to the poor, the World Bank will present at the 7th edition of the eID Conference its Identification for Development (ID4D) agenda. The goal is “making everyone count” by “providing an identity and delivering digital ID-enabled services to all.”
As a stepping stone towards that vision, the study Identification for Development (ID4D) Integration Approach has been developed. For the development of the study the World Bank Group has partnered with Accenture Development Partnerships – world leader in providing strategy advice and consulting services to the development sector on a non-profit basis.
This study helps in conceptualizing the design and implementation of ID4D programs in a highly integrated, interoperable and scalable manner that can produce huge savings for citizens, government and businesses.
To see more details about the conference and the full list of speakers visit eID Conference Website
Information & Communication Technologies
RELATED
PRESS RELEASE
World Bank and Accenture Publish Report to Assist Developing Nations to Create World-Class Identity Management Programs
BRIEF PAGE
Digital IDs for Development
No thanks.
Rather starve.
One of my employers used these in our badges. The supplier’s website promised huge control as it tracked bathroom use, smoking time and a dozen other things. My company said they didn’t use any of those features and then a manager left a report from the system on a printer. Also, I was asked about bathroom use. I asked if they wanted a medical report about my BPH (benign prostate hyperplasia) and they said no, just curious. (I was sensitive about the issue so I never used the same bathroom twice in a row and always tried to integrate the visits with other necessary travel around the plant.)
Works great till some thief lops his hand off, or simply forces him at gunpoint to let him in the house.
It’s cool, but not foolproof.
The asinine will be asinine, the gracious will be gracious, regardless of whether they are using high or low tech. I definitely know jerks, and I know the other kind too. Jerks make everything harder.
Using an implantable chip will be much more convenient than carrying around cash or credit cards. The only drawback that I see is that in the coming days no one will be able to buy or sell unless they have.....HEY, WAIT A MINUTE!!
Those devices can be hacked and their information stolen. I have been researching the issue for a few days, and learned that it is possible to hack one of those devices from 10 feet away.
Unless he wears RFID blocking gloves, it would be trivial for someone to get the electronic code to break into his house. They would just need to place a reader within 10 feet of his door, wait for him to leave, and walk in and help themselves. I could think of a few other ways, as well.
I carry everything in an RFID blocking wallet.
Sounds like a way to defeat the Oklahoma asset seizure law to me.
Revelation 13:17
New International Version
so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
Ditto.
I guess thieves will now carry a kukri to collect hands instead of wallets.
Most don’t even know this verse exists. This generation purely out of convenience will give over their individual rights and probably won’t care. http://www.patburt.com/
This is a sales pitch. Don’t get chipped.
I can see it now: you kiss the wife goodbye on your way out the door and a hundred dollars gets transferred from your joint account to her personal account.
Mark of the beast. No thanks. If this is the future, I’m going Amish or Mennonite.
Me too.
Sounds like a way for them to get everything, as the person is on big plugged in bank card.
Yep, gonna be a shocker when it’s mandatory.
And we’re definitely heading that way, rapidly.
We just haven’t hit the 7-year covenant and then the mid-point when the abomination that causes desolation occurs.
A while back Tom Horn IIRC predicted that Pope Benedict would retire in 2012. Well 2012 came and went and no retirement until whenever it happened. Well it turns out that Pope Benedict decided to retire in the exact month that was predicted, he just didn’t announce it until later. So it is entirely possible that the confirmation of the existing agreement for seven years has already happened, but has not been announced.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.