Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER September 4, 2017 NEWS 9 Are embedded microchips the future? More than 50 workers at U.S. vending machine company try out devices BY MARCEL VANDER WIER IN AUGUST, a River Falls, Wis.- based vending machine company ree Square Market held a "chip party" that saw more than 50 workers voluntarily have micro- chips implanted in their hands. e rice-sized chips were in- serted between each individual's thumb and forefinger — enabling staffers to open doors, log onto computers, run a photocopier, and purchase company snacks with a swipe of their hand. Also known as 32M, Three Square Market has 85 workers and may be the first in North America to offer the technology already being used in Europe. e devices come from Swe- den's BioHax International, which began selling the microchips at tech fairs in 2015. "We want to be on the forefront of this," 32M president Curt Giles told the Associated Press. "is is something that's coming." While intrigued, HR tech ex- perts do not expect the practice to go mainstream anytime soon in either the United States or Canada. "I love tech but, to be honest with you, HR's not known to be early adopters," said Ward Christ- man, founder of HR Tech Advisor in West Chester, Pa. "So the chances of it being ad- opted by employers — if it does — would come through finance or IT to support initiatives like lowering theft from employees or data se- curity breaches, but not through HR... I just don't see it." Background The microchips being used by 32M operate via radio-frequency identification (RFID), using elec- tromagnetic fields to identify stored information, according to the company's website. The data stored on the microchip is encrypted. e chips use near-field com- munication (NFC), the same technology featured in tap-func- tioning credit cards, and are not trackable as they are not outfitted with GPS capabilities. In fact, the microchips can only be read within a few inches of an appropriate device, according to the company. They essentially equate to the use of a proximity card, where a unique serial num- ber is accessed when held up to a device reader, prompting the soft- ware to perform a desired function. e microchips are not perma- nent, and can be removed like a wood sliver. ey reportedly cost US$300 each. Employees wary of the im- plants but still desiring the RFID technology were offered wearable wristbands or rings. Current trends At present, microchips are not nearly as popular as biometrics — the verification of personal identity through physical attri- butes such as fingerprints or voice scans, according to Bianca Lopes, chief identity officer at BioCon- nect in Toronto. Biometric options include fa- cial or voice recognition, as well as iris or fingerprint scans. Large corporations such as banks are using biometrics to take the "friction" out of employees' lives while maintaining certainty of identity, especially when ex- changing highly sensitive infor- mation, she said. "Where we're seeing people use biometrics is to prove the identity of the human while protecting the privacy and security of that exchange of value," said Lopes. If employers are concerned ab out se curity, biometric solutions are much more readily available on the HR tech market, said Christman. LATEST > pg. 13 Credit: Chip East (Reuters File Photo) The microchips implanted into 32M employees' hands were similar in size to a grain of rice.

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