Did you ever feel overcontrolled in your job? As crazy as it may seem, people around the world are voluntarily letting their employers insert microchips in their bodies to track their moves and the Philippines might be very close to being the next in line.  It is understandable that companies want to protect their investment by conducting employment background check investigations as part of a hiring process, or that they want to have certain control methods to know if resources are being wasted. However, this new microchip trend is extremely concerning for most of the population who still think they have a right to a private life, and freedom!  Without Liberty, what is left?

Not long ago, a company in the United States announced it was implanting microchips in their employees, which for now would only help them open doors, use copy machines, log into computers, share business cards and store health information. Do you really need a microchip inserted in your skin to do things that can be easily done with a password or a key card? Of course the answer is no, you do not need an intrusive device placed in your body to replace a simple key card.

All of the above-mentioned microchip’s functionalities seem mere excuses for an employer to control their talent as if they were robots. Just imagine what the employer can do with the information they obtain from the microchip once they monitor and analyze employees’ health condition on a daily basis. People could be fired for being ill, before they even get to know they are sick! Personal health information could be sold to third parties to develop new drugs or for marketing purposes.

This company in the U.S. is not the only one. Another Swedish company is implanting the same kind of microchips and employees are volunteering as well. However, there are many wrong things with this kind of practice. Why exactly is it unethical?  A better question may be how is it that the global population is so easily duped and conned these days?  It is a Brave New World, and Big Brother is watching.  Corporation and governments are recording your every move.

In the first place, employees should never be used as test labs even if they volunteer to participate. It might be too soon to know what are the potential risks in regards to digital privacy and keeping your information safe. Who is responsible if this technology fails? How would an employer compensate their employees if a hacker gets access to this information? What kind of information are the employers allowed to track and store? For how long? Would users be able to block the tracking once they leave the company? There are no laws in place yet that can regulate this matter, so things can get pretty confusing.  Who would be foolish enough to allow such a device to be implanted?

Another important aspect is that microchips can also be programmed to hold contact information and talk to smartphone apps. This means that they can not only track information, but communicate with surrounding devices to make them do things that the user has not authorized.

Inserting microchips in employees is considered by expert investigators in the Philippines as an utter disrespect for privacy, and a major security concern and threat to basic Liberty as we know it (or knew it). Currently, there is little information on the extent of what employers plan to do with the information obtained, no clear regulation, and too many risks involved.

C. Wright
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