British firms have considered implanting their employees with microchips as a way of boosting their security.
Biohax, a Swedish tech firm is currently in talks with legal and financial companies to implant workers with chips. One potential client is a major global auditing firm with “hundreds of thousands of employees”.
The chips which cost£150 the equivalent of R2800, are around the size of a grain of rice. It is not yet where on the body they would have the chips inserted.
He told the Sunday Telegraph: “These companies have sensitive documents they are dealing with. The chips would allow them to set restrictions for whoever.”
He added: “There’s no losing it, there’s no dropping it, there’s no forgetting it. There’s always going to be an ultimate back-up.” The chips could be used to enter buildings, access controlled areas, use printers – or buy food from the canteen.
The chips will function in a way similar to bank cards. currently in Sweden, approximately 4,000 citizens already have chips inserted including 85 of the 500 employees at travel operator Tui.
Iit is likely that this time of technology may be resisted initially but eventually it is predicted that it would catch on.
Last year, a businessman from Hampshire, became the first person in the UK to be fitted with a similar microchip. It allows him access to his home and office and even start his BMW car.
It had been implanted between his thumb and finger and now Northam offers the service through his company BioTeq.
He said of the technology: “It can have a huge impact on society and business. In the future, we’re all likely to have one.”
