Would you be microchipped for work?
Date: 24th Tuesday, October, 2017
We live in an unprecedented period of surveillance. Our lives are monitored and recorded from the time we switch on our mobile device to the time we get to work and return home. Even our television viewing preferences are scrutinised to garnish insights. And then there’s the Internet. Every keystroke, posting, website visit and download is recorded for eternity.
All our activities, movements and decisions are of interest to companies and public agencies for many reasons including safety and marketing. It is generally an unobtrusive experience, but nevertheless, big brother is amongst us!
The advent of social media and broader expansion of the Internet for commercial application has contributed to a laissez faire attitude towards sharing knowledge about our movements and activities – knowingly or otherwise. Greater acceptance of social activity monitoring is driving technology innovation and in turn, more data is captured and used for and against the individual. Telematics track our vehicles, Google tracks our mobile location, CCTV tracks our whereabouts and a plethora of applications vie for permission to record what we do, what be buy and what we think. Will there be an end to this silent intrusion? Probably not, after all you can’t stop progress!
An article in Recruiting Times provides an example of a company in the US that is using microchips, injected under the skin, to replace id cards! The uptake, 50 out of 80 people, shows an interesting tolerance to physical intrusion (hopefully not pain!). The quid pro quo perhaps being convenience over efficiency. Either way, the momentum of change will only bring about further capabilities for all of us to be watched, listened to, monitored and analysed to within an inch of our lives - both in and out of work. Ultimately, our very being, our blueprint, our DNA will perhaps be on ‘file’ along with everything we have ever said, everything we have ever done – and all of this stored in the circuitry of a computer system.
HGV drivers have a tachograph in their vehicles and GPRS can spot our vehicle’s whereabouts anywhere in the world. There’s even research focused on health monitoring technology that can detect if a driver is heading towards a heart attack. Many of these changes and developments arrive on our doorsteps and become part of our ‘normal’ everyday life at home and work. We scarcely bat an eyelid or witness any concerns. The direction of flow is apparent – where do you think it will take us next?
