IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2019 - 39

LEADING EDGE

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through a general practitioner (GP)
or body modification shop. Some
of these are purportedly "partners"
though no official lists exist. This is
a serious challenge that should not
be dismissed. In 2007 the American Veterinary Medical Association
(AVMA) noted with respect to dogs
and cats that "removal of the chip is
a more invasive procedure and not
without potential complications"
[15]. It is a great pity that early
warnings from global research and
advisory companies like Gartner were not heeded sooner [16].
And although we now have the sonamed "cryptobionic implants"
on the market that offer encryption,
none of this changes the issue of the
implant procedure itself. Recent
academic studies that report microchip implants as "insertables" confuse the issue at hand. We could speak
of insertable headphones in the ears,
of removable dentures in the mouth,
even of contact lenses that can be
autonomously put on and taken off by
the user themselves, but we cannot
say this with implants that require incisions or injections [17]. Even intrauterine devices (IUDs) cannot be mistaken
for insertables, they require a third
party to remove them: "you can't do it
yourself" [18]. The IUD is "inserted" in
the uterus, yes, but it simply does not
"pop out" like a tampon.
There is also a distinction to be
made between Sojeti's chief technology officer's proclamations of RFID/
NFC implants being a "bad idea"
and Dr Halamka's "not a very practical
solution" and a technology that will
"never be widely accepted by the
public." Professor Halamka, now with
Harvard Medical School International
Healthcare Innovation recently criticized the Australian Medical Heath
Record system implementation for
relying on outdated technology [19].
His stance is one that implies that
JUNE 2019

organizations will not go forward with
implantables for digital transformation
because there is no economic value in
it and the technology itself should not
be used for authentication. Sjöström
on the other hand not only believes it
is a "dead end" but that it is also a "bad
idea"; that the perceived benefits are
far outweighed by all the unintended
consequences of uberveillance, security, and health implications [20].

Author Information
Katina Michael is a professor in the
School for the Future of Innovation
in Society and School of Computing,
Informatics and Decision Systems
Engineering at Arizona State University. She is the founding editor-inchief of the IEEE Transactions on
Technology and Society, which will
be launched in 2020.
Rebecca Monteleone is a doctoral
student in the School for the Future
of Innovation in Society at Arizona
State University.

References
[1] M.G. Michael and K. Michael, "Towards a
state of Uberveillance." IEEE Technology and
Society Mag., vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 9-16, 2010.
[2] A. Sjöström, "Boarding a flight with an
NFC implant," Sojeti, Jan. 8, 2016; https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORDjQU5pBc0.
[3] A. Sjöström, "Boarding a flight with an
NFC implant," andreassjostrom.com, Jan.
8, 2016; http://andreassjostrom.com/
boarding-a-flight-with-an-nfc-implant/.
[4] A. Sjöström "NFC chip implants are a
bad idea," andreassjostrom.com, Dec. 3,
2017; http://andreassjostrom.com/nfcchip-implants-are-a-bad-idea/.
[5] K. Michael, "Microchipping people: The
risks," Joint Institution Lecture Series
Engineers, Australia and IEEE (NSW Section),
Harricks Auditorium, Chatswood, NSW, Mar.
8, 2018; https://portal.engineersaustralia
.org.au/event/joint-institution-lecture-seriesmicrochipping-people-%E2%80%93-risks.
[6] United Nations: Human Rights. Office of
the High Commissioner. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Dec.
16, 1966; https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx.
[7] K. Michael, "RFID/NFC implants for Bitcoin transactions," IEEE Consumer Elec-

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tronics Mag., vol. 5, no. 3, 2016; https://
ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7539255.
[8] FoLI, "AI principles," Future of Life
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[9] IEEE, "Ethics in action," The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous
and Intelligent Systems, 2017; https://
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[10] J. Halamka, A. Juels, A. Stubblefield,
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[11] M. Merrill, "Human-implantable RFID
chips: Some ethical and privacy concerns," Healthcare IT News, July 30, 2007;
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/
human-implantable-rfid-chips-some-ethicaland-privacy-concerns.
[12] M. Merrill, "Future hazy for implantable
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June 30, 2009; https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/future-hazy-implantablemedical-records.
[13] P. Kramer, "Removal of my RFID chipIt was placed in an awkward position," YouTube, Dec. 19, 2015; https://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=_FEWrnPHFPw.
[14] GP Monash, "Implanon removal," YouTube, Feb. 7, 2016; https://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=SSN_By-Fc34.
[15] AVMA, "Breaking news: Statement
on microchipping," American Veterinary
Medical Assoc., Oct. 30, 2007; http://
www.avma.org/aa/microchip/breaking_
news_070913_pf.asp.
[16] M. Reynolds "Despite the hype, microchip implants won't deliver security," Gartner, July 20, 2004; https://www.gartner
.com/doc/453560?ref=ddisp.
[17] A. Graafstra, Geekstreetsolutions,
"Time between removing tag and inserting replacement implant?," DangerousThings.com, Dec. 1, 2017; https://forum.
dangerousthings.com/t/time-betweenremoving-tag-and-inserting-replacementimplant/1522.
[18] WebMD, "Implant vs. IUD: What's the difference?," WebMD, Mar. 6, 2019; https://www
.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/implant-vs-iud.
[19] H. Osman, "Industry calls for more
caution over MHR system," Healthcare IT
News, Jan. 31, 2019; https://www.healthcareit.com.au/article/industry-calls-morecaution-over-mhr-system.
[20] K. Michael, M.G. Michael, C. Perakslis,
and R. Abbas, "Uberveillance and the rise
of last-mile implantables: Past, present
and future," in Embodied Technology:
Wearables, Implantables, Embeddables,
Ingestibles, I. Pedersen and A. Illiadis, Eds.
Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press, to be published,
2019.

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