Imagine being able to unlock doors with just a wave of your hand. Even better, imagine making wireless payments or confirming your identity by doing exactly that, with your ID and and credit cards still firmly in your pocket. Impossible? Not if you’re willing to implant yourself with the relevant RFID chips.
A software engineer by the name of Miana Windall actually implanted close to 25 chips underneath the skin of her hands, ranging from magnets and RFID silicon. In an conversation with Engadget, Windall said that her interest in implants was what led her to try placing said chips underneath her skin, allowing her to pull off the party trick of waving her hand at over the gate sensor at her former office building and gaining access thereafter.
For the record, RFID technology isn’t new and has been around since the 1970s. However, it has been argued that the technology has yet to reach its full potential and for the majority of times, its functions are more gimmick than practical. On that note, it should also be made clear that these implant don’t work in the same way Hollywood depicts them.
By that, RFID chips remains inert; they’re not constantly alive or energized, and the only time they spring into action is if you bring into very close proximity to a relevant reader. On another note, Windall’s own self-installed implants can basically be done by anyone in the US. This is because the chip itself isn’t considered a medical device, meaning that anyone with a firm understanding of body modifications could just install them themselves.
Of course, there are certain risks that consumers who are thinking of performing body modifications and installing RFID chips under their skin will need to consider, chief among them being the level of privacy such mods could compromise.
(Source: Engadget, DEFCON Forum, Hot Hardware)
