The use of chip implants for workers

Please note: Each EPRS Study is assigned a DOI (digital object identifier), which is a safe and long term way of ensuring a hyperlink to the full text of this report. However, when ESO creates this record, on occasion the DOI still has not been activated by the EU Bookshop. If you find the source url hyperlink does not work please use the alternative location hyperlink listed as a related url.This paper explains the technology of RFID chip implants; explores current applications, and considers legal, ethical, health, and security issues relating to their potential use in the workplace.

Compulsory use would be likely to encounter legal and ethical challenges. Even voluntary use might be subject to challenges, for example, on data protection grounds. It seems that the risks of adverse health effects in humans might be considerably less than some have suggested, although they cannot be entirely discounted without better evidence.

Contrarily, although there are indications of improvements in recent years, the benefits in terms of enhanced security might not be deliverable with the vulnerability of current RFID chip technology.

The study was commissioned by Policy Department A for the Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL).

• Primary Source

European Parliament: European Parliamentary Research Service: Study, January 2018: The use of chip implants for workers http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/614209/IPOL_STU(2018)614209_EN.pdf

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