Brew: In the past, people forgot passwords to important
things, got locked out of their homes and cars,
or left their wallets and IDs at home by mistake.
But now, a radical body modification makes sure this never happens again.
No no, we’re not talking about sci-fi!
In 1998, a researcher got the first implant of a chip
inside the human body, and ever since then, people
have been enhancing their body with electronics.
…And as you raise your hand, you notice something
strange about your implant that scares you.
People can implant data chips, called Near Field
Communication chips or Radio Frequency IDs, into their skin.
These chips are already used in ID badges and fobs that unlock
doors, credit cards, and can microchip pets with ID information.
In February 2018, a 26-year-old Swiss man travelled to the
Netherlands to have a chip implanted in his middle finger.
He already had one chip placed near his knuckle several months ago.
The man described the place where he got the implantation as clean
and sterile, and his chip was disinfected before the implantation.
He watched the quick and simple procedure happen,
got stitched up, and was on his merry way.
But not long after that, things started to go downhill.
Before we get into that, I’d like to tell you about a much more
ancient body modification, and our new modern way of using it.
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The man noticed a clear fluid leaking from the wound, despite him changing
his bandages every day and eventually removing the stitches as he healed.
He was able to use his hand perfectly normally but, three months
after the implantation, the clear liquid was still oozing out of him.
And, suddenly, things got even worse.
The man’s hand turned red and started swelling painfully.
He rushed to the emergency room, where doctors noted that
the wound was inflamed and would secrete fluid if pushed.
The man’s body had reacted to the foreign
object, leading to a staph infection.
After the patient’s infection was treated, the
implant was surgically removed from his hand.
He then healed for a week before undergoing
physical therapy to restore his finger movement.
Thankfully, it didn't take too long for the patient to
have a full recovery, with no signs of chronic infection.
An infection isn’t exactly the cool, futuristic outcome
people hope for when they get a microchip implant.
Biohacks like NFC and RFID chips come with risks, and
people should be aware of the dangers of getting one.
One biohacking microchip retailer is literally called “Dangerous Things”!
And even if the implantation procedure goes well, there
are still other things that can go wrong afterwards.
In our second case, a man named Daniel Oberhaus was inspired to get
an NFC chip implant while he was attending a large hacker convention.
The popular NFC booth was run by Dangerous Things,
and Dan had stopped by a few times out of curiosity,
but there was always a long wait for a microchip.
Near the end of the conference, Dan got an
update that there were only a few chips left.
He had been drinking, and impulsively decided to go for it.
When Dan arrived, he was just in time to grab the very last implant.
It felt like it was meant to be, so he paid $50
for them to insert the NFC chip into his hand.
This implant did not become infected, but Daniel faced
a different, frustrating problem—the chip was useless.
At the implant station, the staff encouraged
Daniel to secure his chip with a 4-digit pin.
When NFC chips are not protected, anyone with
a reader can write to the chip in close range.
To make sure he didn’t forget the passcode, Daniel chose
the same pin he used for his phone—or so he thought.
The implantation itself is a simple procedure.
The chip or ID fits into a small glass capsule the size of
a grain of rice, which is sterilized before implantation.
The capsule then goes into an injector and is placed between skin layers
in just a few seconds, and is less painful than some muscle injections.
The capsule is most often placed in the hand and is barely noticeable.
If you know where to push, you can feel it.
Once it’s inside, you can control what
utility you’re looking for with the implant.
RFIDs and NFC chips can store things like
passwords, contact information, and even a picture.
These devices rely on an external electronic source to
communicate information to devices, like a scanner that unlocks
certain doors in a hospital, after an ID badge is scanned.
The reading device creates a weak electric current and small magnetic
field, so the implant doesn’t need its own charge or any kind of battery.
When the chip enters the reader’s magnetic field, a small
coil inside it uses the energy from the reader to produce
its own magnetic field and transfers the data to the reader.
Most modern smartphones can read these implants,
so it’s easy for many people to use them.
Body modifications in humans have an ancient history,
with piercings, tattoos, and scarification dating back
thousands of years and often having deep significance.
The Celts, ancient Egyptians, and Polynesians are just
some societies that gave spiritual meaning to tattoos.
Ancient Aztecs, Mayans and some Native American tribes
historically practiced piercings, often for religious purposes.
As technology advanced, more types of body modification became trends,
like new styles of tattoos, piercings, plastic surgery, and skin implants.
Many body implants are medical, and are made to replace missing body
parts, deliver medication, monitor body functions, or support the organs.
Eventually, people started doing it cosmetically, with
results like small horns, shapes like hearts or stars, or even
magnets under the skin to attract small metal items.With these
implants, you can have technology at your literal fingertips.
Russ Foxx: “My left hand is my technology hand.
I have two different transponders right
here, there’s an RFID and an NFC transponder.
And in my left ring finger I have a magnet implant for magnetic vision.
I use my RFID and NFC transponders for many different
security purposes as well as storing information.
And then I scan my chip, and it unlocks.
Just like that!”
Brew: Many people already microchip their pets
with ID information in case they get lost.
It wasn’t long before the idea to chip
ourselves became im-planted in our minds.
Which brings us back to Daniel.
When he woke up the morning after the procedure, Daniel
tried to unlock his chip, but the PIN didn’t work.
He couldn’t remember the passcode he’d selected and desperately typed in
every possibility he could think of, but couldn’t unlock his own hand.
Daniel never even got to settle on a use for his chip.
He tried NFC readers on several different
phones and NFC devices, but nothing worked.
He accepted his fate and forgot about the failed biohack for the next year.
The hacking convention was coming up again, reminding Daniel about
his experience and inspiring him to finally unlock his NFC chip.
He posted online on the Dangerous Things forum and
actually got a response from its founder, Amal Graafstra.
Amal said that a third-party NFC app had
likely been used to set the password.
Any third-party app can read an NFC chip, but only the first one, the one
someone uses to set the PIN, can ever actually change the chip’s settings.
Dan cycled through different apps and PIN
combinations, hoping to land on the right one.
He was about to give up when he tried one last password and it worked!
The chip in his hand was finally unlocked.
It felt very strange to have access to his NFC chip for
the first time after having lived with it for so long.
He still hadn’t decided what he should do with the chip,
but was just relieved to be able to do anything at all.
For over a year, Daniel hadn’t been able to do anything
with his microchip biohack, and he wasted a lot of
time and energy just trying to access his NFC chip.
So much for ease and convenience!
Some of you might have already come across NFC
technology if you’re familiar with Nintendo amiibos!
These little figurines have NFC chips in them, and once
you scan them with a Nintendo device with NFC capabilities,
you unlock new characters and content in games.
Animal Crossing also has amiibo cards that let you do things like call
villagers into your game, decorate their homes, and assign them jobs.
My favourite villager is Biff.
He’s a sporty red hippo with a great attitude.
He is my very best friend.
(sigh)
RFIDs and NFC chips can be used as wallets, passports, keys, and
in creative ways such as digital tattoos, or even gun safety,
making sure only the owners of a certain gun is able to fire it.
People are already using these implants in their daily lives!
Burgundy Waller,
Burgundy: “I call myself Chip Girl”,
Brew: got her name for having RFID implants to open the doors in her home.
In some countries like Korea and China, smart home trends like this are
popular, where things like heating, lighting, security, and entertainment
are automated and sometimes controlled remotely via the Internet.
But there are plenty of uses for NFCs and RFIDs outside of the home too.
We’re already using this technology every day–we have
chips in fobs and IDs to unlock into apartment buildings or
hospital wings, in bank cards that can be tapped on a payment
machine, and in phones with Apple Pay and Google Pay apps.
Just imagine tapping your hand instead of your phone or card.
Patrick Pauman, a security guard from the Netherlands, does exactly that.
He makes daily purchases with his chip implant–instead of
putting his credit card against contactless card readers,
he simply raises his hand to the device to be scanned.
Patrick got his implant from Walletmor, a British-Polish firm that
is the first company to publicly offer implantable payment chips.
In another case, Andreas Sjöström, a VP at a technology consulting company,
used a chip in his hand to board his plane at Stockholm Arlanda Airport.
Instead of showing his physical passport and boarding pass,
his information was stored inside a glass capsule in his hand.
If this becomes the norm, you won’t have to worry about
your passport being lost or stolen ever again–unless, of
course, you somehow misplace your hand or someone steals it.
For safety, border security still needs to see an
actual passport when people travel internationally.
Between these two uses, you wouldn’t even
need to carry a wallet around anymore!
A more unconventional idea for NFC chips is gun safety.
LodeStar is a company that created a “smart
gun” that can only be fired by verified users.
The founder, Gareth Glaser, made the company after hearing too many
stories about children who got hurt while playing with unattended firearms.
The gun has three verification methods: a fingerprint reader,
a PIN pad, and an NFC chip that is paired to a smartphone app.
Users have their choice of which method is the primary verification method.
SmartGunz is another gun company whose guns are secured by radio frequency
identification, using a RFID chip located in a glove that the user wears.
Its products are for people who carry guns on their job.
The first push for smart guns was in 1999,
Bill Clinton: “For the very first time, a gun manufacturer has
committed to fundamentally change the way guns are designed, and will
develop smart guns that can be fired by only the adults who own them”.
Brew: In response, the NRA sponsored a boycott asserting that
these safety measures would open the door to stricter gun laws.
Another hindrance to this idea taking off is
that it already had disastrous results before.
German company Armatix sold a smart pistol in 2014, but a hacker
found a way to fire it when it was meant to be locked, and also
prevented it from firing by jamming the frequency the gun operated on.
So, while this technology has great potential,
it’s a bit too new to be totally foolproof.
There are so many possible uses for NFC chips
and people get pretty creative with their ideas.
It can even be something as simple as a picture.
Artist Anthony Antonellis got what he called “the world’s
first digital tattoo” when he decided to get an RFID
chip in his hand that contained one of his custom GIFs.
So like a tattoo in the sense that it’s a body modification
to display art, but you need a smartphone to see it.
Some other ideas are far less innocent and have more of
a, you know, what’s the word— dystopian robot-future vibe?
Ionic Ear is an idea that was popularized on an
episode of the business pitch series Shark Tank.
Founder Darrin Johnson pitched a Bluetooth-enabled
device that would be implanted beneath the ear canal.
The idea was that the Ionic Ear would remove the need for headphones.
The idea wasn’t picked up by any of the sharks and the company died out,
but it reveals another interesting possible utility for chip implants.
Another company, Neuralink, is a famous Elon Musk project.
Or at least I’m told he’s famous.
Neuralink’s goal is to develop a device implanted in the human
brain and allows computers to translate that person’s thoughts
into actions like typing, pressing buttons, and using a mouse.
This idea has tons of potential for assistive technology,
as it would make it very convenient for people with
limited dexterity or motor control to use computers.
At the moment, popular assistive technology includes
eye-tracking software, sip-and-puff switches that allow
computer control through breaths of air, foot switches, head
pointers, and keyboards with raised areas between the keys.
All of these devices could potentially be replaced
with Neuralink, by just thinking about the result
you want, the computer will complete the behaviour.
A viral video in 2021 from Neuralink shows a monkey playing the classic
computer game Pong with only its mind, not using any external controllers.
Neuralink is allegedly expected to begin human trials in the
next year, but with such an ambitious project, it’s unknown
how long the path will be before the goal becomes reality.
The project has also had its share of controversy, including
concerns about animal cruelty, and some animal deaths confirmed.
The idea of getting chips in the brain immediately leads to
a lot of concerns about security and privacy with microchips.
Digital devices can be hacked, as seen with the German smart pistol.
There’s also the question of advancement—if chip technology
improves and better versions are made, will people have
to constantly remove and implant new chips to keep up?
As always, people are concerned about invasiveness
and privacy with technological advances.
Could the chips be used as surveillance devices, and how
easy is it to implant one without someone’s knowledge?
The risk of privacy invasion is not as bad as some may think,
according to Hannes Sapiens, a microchip pioneer and biohack speaker.
People would have to know you have a microchip and get very close
to scan it, and there is far more personal data on your smartphone.
Also, RFID chips can’t be tracked since they don’t
give off signals and are considered “passive” devices.
These implants also can’t collect data, they are simply
a place to store data that is actively put into them.
As for injecting a microchip without being noticed, it
would be quite difficult as it leaves a visible cut that
needs to be treated, and the capsule can be felt afterwards.
But Michael Patterson, CEO of network security firm Plixer, raised
concerns about privacy invasion and opportunities for criminals.
He believes that people may be able to steal data from NFC chips
if they are not secured properly, and that personal information
can likely be accessed even if companies promise it is encrypted.
The rise of NFC implants has led to a lot of
exciting ideas, as well as valid concerns.
Anyone considering an implant should balance the
pros and cons of the implant, and make sure you
follow safety steps to get the best usage you can.
It’s possible that we’ll see a lot more inventive uses coming
out with human chip implants or a rise in the popularity
of implants that unlock doors and process payments.
As for me, I’m not going anywhere near that, thank you very much.
I’ll stay implant-free.
Hear that, Howard?
You’re not going to hack into my brain!
Howard: Who says I haven’t already, Meatbag?
Brew: Say sike right now!
Say sike.
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