The rise of microchipping: are we ready for technology to get under the skin?

As implants grow more common, experts fear surveillance and exploitation of workers. Advocates say the concerns are irrational

On 1 August 2017, workers at Three Square Market, a Wisconsin-based company specializing in vending machines, lined up in the office cafeteria to be implanted with microchips. One after the other, they held out a hand to a local tattoo artist who pushed a rice-grain sized implant into the flesh between the thumb and forefinger. The 41 employees who opted into the procedure received complimentary t-shirts that read "I Got Chipped".

This wholesale implant event, organized by company management, dovetailed with Three Square Market's longer-term vision of a cashless payment system for their vending machines - workplace snacks purchased with a flick of the wrist. And the televised "chipping party" proved to be a savvy marketing tactic, the story picked up by media outlets from Moscow to Sydney.