Mandatory Implantation of Microchips in Employees? UK Gov’t Says it Would Likely be Illegal
By Kevin McCandless
CNSNews.com
December 6, 2018
London (CNSNews.com) – It sounds like the stuff of eschatological literature, but the idea of companies forcibly implanting their employees with microchips is making waves in Britain – although the government says it doubts the practice would be legal.
In recent years, companies marketing microchip implants have touted them as a convenient shortcut to many routine tasks. Employing the same technology used in contactless credit cards, the tiny device is generally implanted in a worker’s hand and can be used for such things as opening doors or turning on devices.
But groups in Britain ranging from the Confederation of Business Industry to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have spoken out against the prospect of companies forcing implants on employees, a step that could facilitate constant monitoring.
TUC secretary-general Francis O’Grady said in a statement this week new technologies should not be allowed to compromise a worker’s right to privacy. Employers should negotiate with their workforce about monitoring policies, he said.
“Unions can negotiate agreements that safeguard workers’ privacy while still making sure the job gets done,” O’Grady said. “But the law needs to be strengthened too, so that workers are better protected against excessive and intrusive surveillance.”
In recent years, Sweden has reportedly become the center of micro-chip use. Although numbers are hard to come by, “implant parties” – where friends group up to have microchips implanted – are reportedly taking place, and the national rail service now offers a microchip reservation service.
Biohax, a Swedish company that specializes in inserting a microchip – about the size of a grain of rice – under the skin, said recently it was business talks with several large British firms.
Last month a Scottish National Party lawmaker asked the government in an written parliamentary question whether it would take steps to ban the microchipping of employees by their employers.
Responding, government minister Kelly Tolhurst wrote that several legal issues would be raised if an employer “required or encouraged” microchip implantation in its workers.
“While I am not aware of any cases being brought to test the legal position, it seems unlikely that such an invasive approach to security or monitoring would be found to be justifiable,” she wrote.
Tolhurst, who is parliamentary undersecretary for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, added that “it is likely to be difficult” for a company to show that such a practice complied with privacy laws or health and safety requirements.
In a second answer to a related question, the government said it has not been asked to assess the efficacy of proposals to microchip employees.
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