{"id":69307,"date":"2020-09-16T22:00:35","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T02:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=69307"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:37:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:37:20","slug":"cyborg-implanted-computer-chips","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/cyborg-implanted-computer-chips\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I choose to be a cyborg\u2019: Why I implanted computer chips in my hands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n 'I choose to be a cyborg\u2019: Why I implanted computer chips in my hands\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

I have computer chips in my hands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tiny (two millimetre by 12 millimetre) glass ampules are nestled just under the skin on the back of each of my hands and were implanted by a local body piercer several years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chip in my right hand is a near-field communication device that I scan with an app on my smart phone to access and rewrite the information I have stored on it. It can contain a minuscule 888 kilobytes of data storage and only communicates with devices less than four centimetres away. In my left hand is a chip designed as a digital verification device that uses a proprietary app from the developer Vivokey<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The implant procedure is neither difficult nor extremely painful. I can feel the bump of the chips under my skin and often invite others to feel it. The bump does not protrude from the back of my hand \u2014 if I didn\u2019t tell someone it was there, they would not be able to tell by sight that I had an implant. But they are not undetectable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An implanted chip can be a secure storage location for emergency contact information, used as an electronic business card, or as an electronic key to unlock your door<\/a>. I give public presentations and interviews about my research and, as a result, do not store private data on my chip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing technology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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There are thousands of people all over the world<\/a> with chip implants; people I call \u201cvoluntary cyborgs.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voluntary cyborgs are people involved in the community and practice of implanting technology beneath their skin for enhancement or augmentation purposes and I\u2019ve counted myself as a member of this subculture for several years. My research in the community has focused on the formation of a distinct subculture and its representations in popular media<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I coined the term voluntary cyborgs to make a distinction from medical cyborgs, who have had technology \u2014 like pacemakers, insulin pumps, IUDs and more \u2014 implanted by medical professionals for rehabilitative or therapeutic purposes. I intentionally emphasize the voluntary aspect of the implant practice to stave off inferences of coerced microchipping theories popular with a vocal groups of implant critics and detractors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conspiracy theories about microchips in humans have been around for years; some of these theories originate from an interpretation of a Bible passage<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conspiracy theories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Clickbait headlines and social media hashtags have been making the rounds with increasing frequency in the last few months, describing the fears and conspiracy theories about the involuntary microchipping of people. The latest incarnation of these doomsday prophecies suggests that tech billionaire Bill Gates will employ microchips to fight COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article was inspired by a Reddit Ask me Anything thread with Gates<\/a> on March 18 that focused on a single phrase: digital certificates. Conspiracy theorists started to make sensational predictions about microchips as a feasible solution to identification verification issues and authenticating vaccination status. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proliferation of online media articles<\/a> and posts<\/a> debunking the claim that Gates plans to surreptitiously implant microchip tracking devices into people as part of a COVID-19 vaccine reinforced the conspiracy theorists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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