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This tech company will start microchipping their workers

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.

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.

“We foresee the use of RFID technology to drive everything from making purchases in our office break room market, opening doors, use of copy machines, logging into our office computers, unlocking phones, sharing business cards, storing medical/health information, and used as payment at other RFID terminals,” according to a statement by the company’s CEO, Todd Westby.

“Eventually, this technology will become standardized, allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc.”

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.

Westby told KSTP he envisions people using the implanted microchip similar to how they use their phones to buy items.

“We’ll come up, scan the item,” Westby explained in front of a self-service kiosk in an office break room. “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 the cellphone, and it will pay for my product.”

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 Westby, who said privacy concerns won’t be an issue.

“There’s no GPS tracking at all,” he told the station.

The company is partnering with Sweden-based BioHax International and its CEO, Jowan Osterland, a self-proclaimed “body hacker” who told the Associated Press in April that the process only lasts a few seconds and is usually painless.

“The next step for electronics is to move into the body,” Osterland said.

A Swedish startup hub called Epicenter, home to more than 100 firms and 2,000 employees, started implanting workers in January 2015. About 150 workers had them as of April, News.com.au reports.

http://nypost.com/2017/07/24/t...pping-their-workers/

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