These days we seem to be all about convenience, with lots of people hating to carry around extra things like credit cards or cash to get things done. Well, folks in Sweden have found a way around that, but it is a bit extreme.
Apparently, more than 4,000 people in Sweden have had microchips implanted in their skin, which help them carry out everyday activities. The most popular feature of the grain of rice-sized implant is that it allows folks to pay for things simply by swiping their hand, but it can also do much more. In fact, similar to some smartwatches, the implant can monitor the user’s health, and they can even be used to get them into buildings, kinda like a key FOB.
While this may sound like a great innovation, others aren’t so sure it’s safe, with some worried they will make cyber crime even worse. Swedish scientist Ben Libberton also worries about who owns the data that’s being gathered. “People have shown they’re happy to give up privacy for convenience,” he said. “The chip is very convenient, so could we accept our data being shared very widely before we know the risks?”
- While so far these chips haven’t come to America, creator Jowan Österlund is hopeful that it will go global. He recently told “Fortune” magazine, that he’s been contacted by investors, “on every continent except Antarctica.”