It may have once seemed like something reserved solely for dystopian sci-fi movies or imagined in malign dictatorships, but microchipping of employees is now a very real possibility. A growing number of firms are looking into the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), which takes the form of microchips the size of a grain of rice that can be implanted in an employee's skin.
The devices can be used to track an employee's movements, their productivity and allow them to log in to certain parts of a building and/or computers.
In response to this, and what appears to be the first bill of its kind in the United States, lawmakers in the US state of Michigan have banned companies from making such chips mandatory in the future. At present, it is not believed that any companies do, in fact, demand this of their employees.
Republican State Rep. Bronna Kahle, who believes that such practices could become commonplace in the coming years, sponsored the bill. She stated:
"With the way technology has increased over the years and as it continues to grow, it's important Michigan job providers balance the interests of the company with their employees' expectations of privacy … While these miniature devices are on the rise, so are the calls of workers to have their privacy protected".
RFID microchips are already in wide use globally, even if they are not as yet implanted into humans. They are used in library books, in employee ID badges and to track products. Some companies though, are believed to be using the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to implement these 1984 style tracking devices, as it would be a way of maintaining 'social distance'.
Indeed, companies such as Amazon and others are already facing huge criticism for productivity tracking of employees, which some claim is dehumanising and turns workers into nothing but robots.
Others have cited privacy concerns and the fact that employees would not be able to remove the chip even when off-duty. Meaning their entire lives could be followed by companies and governments, if they themselves had access to the company data. Clearly, such a move would seriously undermine the right to privacy, the right to assembly and the right to have a life that is not intimately connected to the workplace.
It certainly seems like that a huge amount of rights and freedoms could be lost through the skin implant system, and very little is to be gained. After all, employers could simply ask employees to carry their microchipped badge with them at all times when in work (as many do already).
While Michigan may be the first state to bring in laws banning microchipping we certainly hope it is not the last and that all citizens are free from such draconian policies in the future.
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