This blog post explores how biometric chip technology could revolutionize our lives while also potentially leading to privacy violations and the dangers of a surveillance society.
Advances in science and technology stem from people’s desire to pursue lives more convenient than the present. Consider the smartphone, an essential item for modern people. The first telephone was invented as a tool enabling communication between people far apart. Wired telephones gradually evolved into portable wireless phones, and further miniaturization enhanced portability and ease of use. Following this evolution toward greater portability and usability, smartphones emerged, combining the functions of computers and telephones. Smartphones, too, continue to see steady improvements in performance and functionality based on people’s needs.
Among modern technologies, some are truly innovative, making people’s lives more convenient. For example, there are technologies where simply placing your hand near a building entrance verifies your identity and unlocks the door, or where payment is automatically processed just by walking out of a store after purchasing an item. If such technologies become commercially available, individuals could connect directly to systems covering all aspects of life, like healthcare and security, without needing separate devices. If these things, once thought possible only in imagination, can be realized in reality through biochips, it would be an astonishing advancement.
A biochip is literally a microchip containing specific information implanted inside a living organism. Biochips began gaining attention in 2001 when the ‘VeriChip’—an implantable microchip developed by the American company Applied Digital Solutions—became known. VeriChip, meaning “verification chip,” is rice-grain sized and consists of 126 information characters, an electronic coil for data transmission, a capacitor, and a condenser all embedded within a silicon tube. This chip utilizes RFID technology, commonly used in ID cards and transit cards. RFID, known as electronic tags, is a technology that reads various information from objects wirelessly over long distances using radio frequencies. The VeriChip can be considered an RFID tag implanted in the human body. Unless the chip is specifically removed, it can be used conveniently without the risk of loss.
The use of biochips could realize a ubiquitous world or an Internet of Things (IoT) world connected by advanced networks, transcending the information society. Personal information stored on the biochip interacts with the surrounding environment, designed for the Internet of Things, enabling truly fast and convenient living. For example, confirming an office worker’s arrival or departure, or a university student’s attendance, simply requires passing through a door equipped with a scanner that reads the biochip information. Amusement park rides could be accessed without long queues, and electronic payment systems could integrate with biochips to create even more convenient systems. At large supermarkets or department stores, customers could simply exit through a scanner-equipped gate for automatic payment, eliminating long checkout lines. Furthermore, biochips could yield significant benefits for medical purposes. Storing personal health records or medical histories on the chip eliminates complex hospital procedures. In emergencies, not only the patient’s identity but also their biometric data and existing medical records can be instantly accessed for rapid treatment. Furthermore, thanks to VeriChip technology, biochips that automatically administer medication on schedule have been invented. If such advancing science and technology fuse with biochip technology, things once only possible in imagination will become reality within a few years.
Verichip enables easier verification of identity and information compared to existing methods, and allows for the tracking and protection of vulnerable children or the elderly. Furthermore, Verichip can be conveniently used as a versatile payment method and is also useful for medical purposes. However, this sweet convenience is only one side of the coin that is the biochip. Behind this convenience lies the risk of personal privacy infringement and the descent into a surveillance society. RFID chips, as devices that inherently transmit information and enable identification, offer convenience. Conversely, they also carry the risk of information theft or surveillance of location and other details through the chip.
In today’s highly developed information age, digitized personal information plays a crucial role, defining the person themselves. In an information society, personal information is used to verify identity, make payments, and conduct nearly all activities. Therefore, if personal information leaks and falls into the wrong hands, someone could impersonate me and usurp rights that only I should enjoy. For example, if someone discovers my account information or password, that account effectively ceases to be mine. Furthermore, while chips and GPS can track location for crime prevention, they also carry the risk of someone monitoring your whereabouts. The type and amount of information stored on a biochip varies depending on its purpose and functionality. However, the more personal information stored on the chip to enhance convenience, the more all the information defining an individual becomes concentrated within a single chip.
As mentioned earlier, biochips using RFID technology exchange information by transmitting and receiving radio frequencies. If someone were to use a reader capable of intercepting these signals to maliciously steal another person’s private information, all that data could be compromised. This would essentially equate to losing one’s identity. Many argue that no matter how convenient biochip technology may be, it should not be commercialized if there is no reliable way to safeguard personal information.
Of course, the arguments against biochips aren’t entirely unreasonable. However, people are overly fearful of this technology. In reality, even now, there are numerous cases of personal information leaks from credit cards or the internet, and privacy invasions through voice phishing or GPS remain unresolved issues. It’s also common for digital certificates or personal information to be inadequately protected during internet banking. Even internet search histories are recorded, and using credit cards or ID cards leaves a trail of where, when, and what activities were performed. Sometimes personal information is leaked en masse and exploited for criminal purposes. Despite these similar privacy protection issues with the internet and credit cards, people readily use these technologies without hesitation.
I interpreted the widespread opposition to biochips from the perspective of technophobia. Technophobia is a psychological phenomenon where people feel anxiety or rejection towards new technologies. I believe this fear stems from people having no prior experience with electronic devices implanted directly into the body, like biochips, which is why they oppose their introduction. It’s natural for anyone to feel an unknown aversion and fear towards something entirely new. Anxiety about AI or self-driving cars can also be explained by this phenomenon. However, people desire more convenient lives, and technology advances accordingly. In the early days of the Industrial Revolution, workers harbored extreme aversion to machines. Yet, over time, machines became deeply embedded not only in factories but also in our lives. I believe biochips will follow a similar path. The revolutionary convenience they bring will become an unstoppable trend. Resistance will naturally fade, and the convenient technology of biochips will permeate our lives.
