Employees Get RFID Chips For Security

By Digital Trends Staff February 14, 2006

Employees at a surveillance equipment company have voluntarily agreed to have RFID chips implanted in their forearm. The company is trying to send a message that RFID can indeed be used as a decentsecurity method. The two employees who volunteered for the chip implant have access to a vault containing data and images from cameras the company has installed. CityWatcher.com has contracts withsix cities to provide cameras and Internet monitoring of high-crime areas. Thus, anyone who gained access to the vault would be in reach of extremely confidential and private material.

None of the employees are being forced to get the chip implanted says CEO Sean Darks. “I have one,” he said. “I’m not going to ask somebody to do something I wouldn’t do myself. None of my employeesare forced to get the chip to keep their job.” The RFID chips are about the size of a grain of rice and cannot be felt once implanted into the human body. This is the first case of workers gettingRFID chips in the United States. Workers concerned about privacy should not worry either. “It’s a passive chip. It emits no signal whatsoever,” Darks said. “It’s the same thing as a keycard” saysDarks. RFID has yet to be implemented into any real security devices currently, but has a bright future despite concerns among privacy advocates.

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