A subcutaneous chip that replaces keys and cards

STOCKHOLM | An electronic implant inserted under the skin to replace keys, business cards and train tickets: in Sweden, it is a reality for a few thousand reckless, eager for novelties and indifferent to the potential dangers of a technological intrusion of this type in the human body.

If the practice remains confidential, it is hardly debated in a country that is keen on new technologies that may be less afraid of data breaches than elsewhere, and where social insurers have long accepted the sharing of their personal information between public administrations.

Harmless accessory that simplifies the daily life for its defenders, the chip is currently an entirely passive object, assure its promoters: it emits data only when one puts the hand on a card reader NFC (Near Field Communication).

Ulrika Celsing, 28, is one of 3,000 followers in Sweden, a country of 10 million people. For her, finished the eternal quest for her keys in her purse: to enter the office, she simply slides her hand on a small box, type her code and the door opens.

For a year, she has a subcutaneous chip that replaces her access card and also allows her to enter her gym or take the train.

A sort of electronic wallet, the chip can also take over the train tickets of the national railway company SJ. Available for a year, this service has convinced some 130 users: the traveler reserves his ticket online and saves it on his chip.

Make your life easier

When her company organized a demonstration where employees could have this little object implanted in their hand, Ulrika "followed the movement".

"It was cool to try something new. And, in the future, see how it can be used to make life easier, "she says.

Aside from a vague pain when the syringe inserted the chip into her left hand, Ulrika felt nothing and uses her implant almost daily, without fear of hacking or possible surveillance.

"Technology has not come to the point where you can hack your chip," she says. But "in the future, perhaps it will be necessary to think about it. I can always take it off ... "

For Ben Libberton, a microbiologist, the dangers are already real. The implantation of the chip can cause "infections and (...) reactions of the immune system," he says.

And "the biggest risk concerns the data: at the moment, the data collected and shared by the implants are few, but it will probably increase," says the researcher.

"If an implant one day can detect a medical problem in its carrier, who will be informed and when? Will insurance companies get information about our health? He asks himself.

According to him, "the more data contained in one place - as would be the case with an implant - are numerous, the greater the risk that it is used against us is important".

A fear that Jowan Österlund, specialist in piercings and self-proclaimed champion of implanting chips, sweeps. On the contrary, if you carry all your personal data, it allows us to better control their use, he says, believing that a user is free or not to use his chip.

Despite the outstanding questions, the experience attracts. "In Sweden, people are not afraid of technology and I would say that there is less resistance to new technologies here than in most countries," says Ben Libberton, the microbiologist.

At an implant implant organized by Jowan Österlund in Stockholm, 59-year-old Anders Brännfors, with pepper and salt hair, stands out among the majority of the curious thirty-something hipster.

Delighted to have become a 2.0 version of himself, he has yet never used his chip several weeks after installation.