Sweden is being swept by a cyborg craze that has seen more than 4,000 people insert microchips under their skin so that they do not need to use credit cards, passports, identification documents and even keys, The Independent reported Friday.
The subdermal chips use radio-frequency identification technology which, according to Techopedia, uses radio waves to transfer data and track individual objects.
This type of technology is similar to barcodes, although it does not need to be scanned directly, and can be read by most modern Android smartphones.
Biohax is one of the companies implementing these chips, which are injected beneath the skin between the thumb and forefinger, and has implanted over 4,000 devices in the past five years.
The idea is to negate the need for physical cards, pass codes and signatures while also replacing the use of plastic cards, which are made of PVC and "won't biodegrade for decades if not centuries," according to Biohax.
Not everyone is on board with the technology, though.
Many have raised concerns over how the human implants infringe on personal privacy, and critics are rigorously protesting the chips.
Supporters of the modern technology however, feel it has a place in society, although the uses are still limited.
"I had an RFID chip inserted into my hand three years ago and use it to get in and out of my home, which is great because I don't need to carry around house keys anymore," Zoltan Istvan, who was among the first adopters of the technology, told The Independent. "Unfortunately, technological progress means my chip is already relatively behind the current technology and it will take a surgical procedure to upgrade it, albeit minor."
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