IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2016 - 9

campaigns by VISA to show us the
"mini-Visa" [12] or the contactless
VISA "tap and go" system or the VISA
embedded in our phone or e-wallet
or even smartwatch. Do I think we
should believe the companies push-
ing this next phase? No, I do not. As
consumers we do have a choice of
whether or not to adopt. As a tech-
nology professional do I wish to be
the one to propel this forward? Abso-
lutely not. Does it mean it will never
happen? No, it doesn't.
As I continued my conversation
with Regina Godfredson, I realized
deeply, that while CFA would get
some major attention in funding for
being leaders in this space, the neg-
ative would be that we would also
be heavily responsible and account-
able for what would come out of the
group as we would be the driving
force behind it. The consumer side
of me says "get in there quick to con-
tribute to the discussion and push
the importance of ethics within an
information technology implant sce-
nario." The academic side of me
says sit back and let someone else
do it, but make sure to be ready for
when this may take place (and it is
taking place right now). Just yes-
terday, I received a telephone call
from one of Japan's leading games
suppliers who wants to integrate
the human augmentation scenario
into Deus Ex's, "Mankind Divided"
game, to be launched in Australia
in the last week of August with an
implants shopfront.
The conversation with the publi-
cist went something like this: "Hello
Katina. I note you are one of the
leading researchers on the topic of
the socio-legal-ethical implications
of implants. Look, I want to know,
if there are any legal issues with us
launching a campaign for our new
game that includes an implantation
shop. I've rung everyone I can think
of, and everyone keeps passing me
on to someone else and cannot give
september 2016

me a direct answer. I've tried the
Therapeutic Goods Administration
here, but they say they don't care
because it is not a medical device.
I've looked up laws, and I can't
seem to find anything on implants
for non-medical applications. I've
spoken to police, and ditto they
don't seem to care. So what do you
think?" It goes without saying that
that 50 minute conversation ended
up being one of the most stimulat-
ing non-academic discussions I've
had on the topic. But also, I finished
by saying read Katherine Albrecht's
Bodily Integrity Act in draft since
2007. The publicist kept stating: "I
hope from this engagement to put
forward a framework allowing for
human implants."
My concern with going forward
has naught to do with my ability to
answer very complex biomedical eth-
ical questions as I've thought about
them for over 20 years. My concern
has much to do with whether or not
we should even be dabbling with all
of this, knowing what we know of the
probable uberveillance trajectory.
I am sure I could create some very
good standards to some very unethi-
cal value-laden technologies.
I will not say much about what
is an ethical or unethical technol-
ogy. I will simply say that pervasive
technologies have an intentional-
ity, and they have inherent quali-
ties that can be used positively or
negatively. Talking to social shap-
ing of technology experts, I would
be labeled as a follower of the
technological determinist school
of thought. But clearly here, when
we investigate the piercing of the
skin, we have a complexity that
we've never before faced in the
non-medical commercial space.
It crosses the boundaries of negli-
gence, consent, and human rights,
which we cannot ignore or treat as
just another run-of-the-mill techno-
logical innovation.
∕

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

Author Information
Katina Michael is Professor, Faculty of
Engineering and Information Scienc-
es, University of Wollongong, Australia.

References
[1] CFA, Consumers Federation of Australia, Vic-
toria, Australia, 2013; http://consumersfedera-
tion.org.au/, accessed July 22, 2016.
[2] Standards Australia, CH-041 - Forensic
Analysis, 2016; http://www.sdpp.standards.org.
au/ActiveProjects.aspx?CommitteeNumber=CH-
041&CommitteeName=Forensic%20Analysis;
accessed July 22, 2016.
[3] European Court of Human Rights, Case of
S. and Marper v. The United Kingdom, 2008;
https://www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/
dataprotection/Judgments/S.%20AND%20
MARPER%20v.%20THE%20UNITED%20KING-
DOM%20EN.pdf.
[4] European Court of Human Rights, Article 8
ECHR, 2016; http://echr-online.info/article-8-echr/.
[5] K. Michael, "The road from S and Marper to the
Prum Treaty and the implications on human rights," in
Cross-Border Law Enforcement: Regional Law
Enforcement Cooperation - European, Australian and Asia-Pacific Perspectives, S. Hufnagel et
al., Eds. London, U.K.: Routledge, 2012, pp. 243-258.
[6] K. Michael, "The legal, social and ethical contro-
versy of the collection and storage of fingerprint
profiles and DNA samples in forensic science," in
Proc. 2010 IEEE Int. Symp. Technology and
Society: Social Implications of Emerging Techologies (University of Wollongong), 2010, pp. 48-60.
[7] A.R. Dennis and B.A. Reinicke, "Beta versus VHS
and the acceptance of electronic brainstorming
technology," MIS Quart., vol. 28, pp. 1-20, 2004.
[8] U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services,
MAUDE Adverse Event Report, VeriChip Corporation - VeriMed Patient Identificator -
VeriChip Implant, U.S. FDA, July 27, 2007; http://
www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/
cfMAUDE/Detail.CFM?MDRFOI__ID=962453.
[9] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
21 CFR Part 880, [Docket No. 2004N-0477],
Medical Devices; General Hospital and Personal Use Devices; Classification of Implantable Radiofrequency Transponder System for
Patient Identification and Health Information,
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2004; http://
www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/98fr/04-27077.
htm, accessed July 22, 2016.
[10] A. Masters and K. Michael, "Lend me your
arms: The use and implications of humancentric
RFID," Electronic Commerce Research and
Applications, vol. 6, pp. 29-39, 2007.
[11] J. Carvalko and K. Michael, Joseph Carvalko Speaks With Katina Michael On His
Fiction Piece "Crossing The Evolutionary
Gap," July 22, 2016; https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=p4JyVCba6VM.
[12] "Visa introduces contactless mini card, mak-
ing payments faster and more convenient than
ever," Business Wire, Aug. 8, 2006; http://www.
businesswire.com/news/home/20060316005263/
en/Visa-Introduces-Contactless-Mini-Card-Making-
Payments.

http://consumersfedera http://tion.org.au/ http://www.sdpp.standards.org https://www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/ http://www.echr-online.info/article-8-echr/ http://http:// http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/ http://http:// http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/98fr/04-27077 https://www.youtube.com/ http://www http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20060316005263/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2016