Imagine for a moment that you’ve been in an accident.  You’re injured, unconscious, and lying in an ambulance.  The EMT scans the embedded radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip in your hand and accesses your medical history, blood type, list of prescription medications, allergies, medical insurance provider, and emergency contacts.  He forwards the information to the emergency room in the hospital while he begins care in the ambulance.

In happier days, you may have used that chip to purchase groceries or gain access to your office simply by waving your hand over a scanner.  Now that little device, no bigger than a grain of rice, might very well help to save your life.

It sounds great, doesn’t it?  As it turns out, the FDA has already approved certain implants, such as “VeriChip.”  Other companies such as Walletmor and Biohax offer microchip implants to enable users to conduct contactless payments, much like we’re doing now using QR codes on our phones.

Providers tout the benefits.  They make checking out at the market so much faster and easier!  No need to remember PINs, carry multiple credit cards, or worry about losing your wallet!  If you’re in an accident, the reduction in response time could save your life!  With so many concerns over COVID, bird flu, and other diseases, you won’t have to touch those germ-laden screens in the stores to approve your purchase!

Many people have already taken them up on their offer.  In Sweden, for example, thousands have opted for hand implants to facilitate daily tasks like purchases and building access.

Others, however, are sounding the alarm.  The primary concerns revolve around privacy and security.  Some of us have purchased scanner-resistant wallets to prevent hackers from accessing the chips in our credit cards.  How does one protect against this with a subdermal chip?  How hard would it be for someone to hack into the chip in your hand, steal your identity, and drain your savings?

As the J6 protesters have learned, it’s possible to track someone’s movements through his cell phone.  Can the same chip you used to pay for your morning coffee be used to monitor and record your movements?

There are also health concerns.  We’ve been warned about the deleterious effects of long-term exposure to electromagnetic radiation, like that from cell phones.  Studies have shown changes in brain activity, reaction times, and sleep patterns due to cell phone use.

What risks may be involved in having a device that emits radio waves embedded under the skin?  Many pet owners have had their pets chipped, which is useful if the animal gets lost.  In some studies, these devices are believed to have caused cancer in animals.  Besides cancers, they may pose a risk of infection or interference with other electronic equipment such as CAT and MRI scanners.

Just as potentially harmful side-effects of the COVID vaccines are still being ascertained, more studies are needed on the long-term effects of subdermal devices that send and receive radio waves.

It is to be hoped that we’ve learned our lessons about the COVID vaccine mandates.  Some people who were terminated from their jobs for refusing the vaccines are now being reinstated with back pay.  At the present time, chip implantation is voluntary, but it’s easy to imagine future scenarios in which that might not be the case.  Some U.S. states have passed laws against mandatory microchipping by employers.

There are those who view these devices favorably, whereas others view them with suspicion due to privacy, security, or religious concerns.  For Christians, a government mandating the implantation of a chip for commerce sounds ominously like a passage from the Bible:

It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 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. (Revelation 13:16-17)

A related issue is that of Central Bank Digital Currencies, or CBDCs, that could replace paper bills and coins.  They are programmable in that they allow governments and banks to have direct oversight into their citizens’ purchasing habits.  Combined with social credit scores, a hostile government could easily lock an individual out of society.  Perhaps someone posted a meme on X that someone else found offensive.  The offended party might contact the authorities, as is happening in the U.K.  It would be a simple matter to temporarily deny that citizen access to his own funds or prohibit him from using public transportation.  Economist Richard Werner has discussed how CBDCs could be utilized with subdermal chips, but this was speculation on his part and not tied to any banks or governments.

Yet.

We may see “function creep” arise with these digital technologies if they expand beyond their original purposes.  The idea of using a hand scanner for economic transactions or medical emergencies is technologically feasible, but the issues of privacy and security pose very real dangers to a liberty-loving people.

Image via Picryl.