WEBVTT 00:23.740 --> 00:33.500 Welcome to another episode of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. 00:34.460 --> 00:41.660 Streaming exclusively from Disney Negative with your host, Jada. 00:42.360 --> 00:44.360 Hi, friends. 00:44.360 --> 00:48.880 Last week, we talked about the dangers of running with scissors. 00:49.380 --> 00:52.760 This week, chip implants. 00:53.320 --> 00:58.340 No, not those, but this. 00:58.340 --> 01:01.260 Human microchip implants. 01:01.260 --> 01:14.560 Imagine, with just the swipe of one's microchipped hand against a digital reader device, being able to unlock that door to one's office, garage, or home. 01:14.960 --> 01:23.960 Today, more than 50,000 people worldwide have elected to receive microchip implants. 01:24.020 --> 01:29.980 Some even affectionately call themselves human cyborgs. 01:30.180 --> 01:40.780 But first, let's briefly talk about what this technology is, and then we'll catapult into the controversy surrounding its use. 01:42.860 --> 01:45.540 So how does the chip work? 01:46.020 --> 01:52.540 Well, the microchips are encased in a shell slightly larger than a grain of rice. 01:52.540 --> 02:06.860 Now, the average cost of this procedure is $150, and that's to have this microchip, about the size of a grain of rice, surgically inserted between one's thumb and index finger. 02:06.960 --> 02:13.640 And also for $150, you can buy 320 pounds of rice at Walmart. 02:13.640 --> 02:22.830 And as the comedian Mitch Hedberg teaches us, rice is great whenever you're hungry and you want 2,000 of something. 02:23.540 --> 02:25.380 But I digress. 02:26.720 --> 02:48.600 So chip implants are especially popular in Sweden, where more than 4,000 Swedes have replaced their traditional key cards for chip implants to use for access at the gym, e-tickets on the railway, and even to store emergency contact information and their social media profiles. 02:48.960 --> 02:56.800 In the U.S., however, this technology's reception has not been as enthusiastic. 02:58.140 --> 03:13.440 While chip implants are gradually being embraced, perhaps better to say inserted, some lawmakers are taking preemptive action to prohibit forced microchipping. 03:14.220 --> 03:15.920 Now, the first U.S. 03:15.920 --> 03:27.140 company to begin offering employees free microchip implants was a Wisconsin vending machine software company in 2017. 03:27.140 --> 03:37.620 This alarmed some lawmakers, however, who felt it was quote, a rabbit hole I don't think we should go down, unquote. 03:38.080 --> 03:44.500 Instead, they proposed banning human microchip implants entirely. 03:45.400 --> 03:53.440 Oh, and speaking of rabbit holes, another rabbit hole is the Bill Gates microchip conspiracy theory. 03:54.160 --> 04:11.380 Now, PolitiFact debunked this unfounded claim that the coronavirus pandemic was part of a plan by Microsoft founder Bill Gates to establish a vaccination program to implant trackable microchips in people. 04:11.380 --> 04:21.840 Facebook also flagged this spurious claim after the post was shared by more than 44,000 users. 04:21.840 --> 04:45.020 Additionally, the BBC debunked this myth after the leader of the Russian Communist Party accused globalists of supporting, quote, a covert mass chip implantation, which they may in time resort to under the pretext of a mandatory vaccination against coronavirus, 04:45.020 --> 04:46.280 unquote. 04:46.720 --> 04:54.380 So, tossing conspiracy theories aside, how do these chip implants actually work? 04:54.600 --> 04:58.880 Well, not all chip implants are designed alike. 04:58.880 --> 05:08.620 Some chips communicate using radio frequency identification, known as RFID, and are passive transponders. 05:08.820 --> 05:10.780 What does that mean? 05:10.780 --> 05:33.220 Well, according to the Seattle-based biohacking company called Dangerous Things, passive means that it allows a small computer chip with no battery or power source to be powered by and communicate with a device reader using the magnetic field generated by it. 05:33.600 --> 05:50.000 Given the chip's petite size, an example on this slide is one that is two millimeters by 12 millimeters, the digital reader can be positioned a few inches next to one's microchipped hand to communicate. 05:50.560 --> 06:06.080 Now, apart from RFID, Sweden's top provider of chip implants, Biohacks International, produces primarily near-field communication chips, known as NFC chips. 06:06.080 --> 06:12.400 Now, these are commonly used in mobile payments and contactless credit cards. 06:12.400 --> 06:24.720 Basically, they use electromagnetic radio fields to wirelessly communicate with digital readers that are in close proximity, much like our smartphones do. 06:24.720 --> 06:38.100 These chips are also passive, meaning that they store information that other devices can read, but the NFC chip itself doesn't read that information. 06:38.260 --> 06:53.900 According to Biohacks, a benefit of NFC chips is their widespread international use across a variety of services and products that support the NFC global standard. 06:53.900 --> 07:05.220 In turn, this allows for more streamlined integration and use with existing infrastructure and across public and private sectors. 07:05.420 --> 07:10.620 So, if these chips are passive, why are some U.S. 07:10.620 --> 07:14.480 lawmakers calling for a preemptive ban? 07:15.970 --> 07:24.620 On the one microchipped hand, this technology offers attractive benefits of convenience and speed. 07:24.620 --> 07:30.420 Again, imagine just by swiping your hand, you can quickly buy that pound of rice. 07:31.140 --> 07:39.520 On the other microchipped hand, this technology also raises significant privacy concerns. 07:40.260 --> 07:57.960 A general privacy and information security concern here with NFC technology is that it could allow third parties to eavesdrop on device communication, corrupt data, or wage interception attacks. 07:58.040 --> 08:14.540 The NFSC.org warns that interception attacks are when someone intercepts the data transmitted between two NFC devices and then alters that data as it's being relayed. 08:14.540 --> 08:38.420 Like any device, really, these personal chips have security vulnerabilities which could potentially be exploited for malicious purposes, even if the chip is physically embedded underneath the skin, according to microbiologist Ben Libertin with the Stockholm Kortenska Institute. 08:39.100 --> 08:39.700 Mr. 08:39.700 --> 08:57.900 Libertin warns that these chips can reveal a lot of personal information about our health, location information, how often we're working and for how long, and even such intimate details as the frequency of our coffee breaks or trips to the restroom. 08:58.940 --> 09:10.240 Another privacy concern that deserves careful scrutiny is to what extent could this data be legally shared with third parties? 09:11.840 --> 09:13.100 Now, the U.S. 09:13.100 --> 09:18.200 Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling that squarely addresses this. 09:18.200 --> 09:22.920 That is, the treatment of microchip implants as third parties. 09:23.320 --> 09:27.800 Under the third-party records doctrine, however, determined by the U.S. 09:27.800 --> 09:32.480 Supreme Court in 1979, in the case of Smith v. 09:32.480 --> 09:55.940 Maryland, the Fourth Amendment does not prohibit the obtaining of information revealed to a third party and conveyed by him to government authorities even if that information is revealed on the assumption it will be used for a limited purpose and the confidence placed in the third party won't be betrayed. 09:56.100 --> 10:04.780 In sum, it remains an open question as to whether these devices count as third parties or not. 10:06.820 --> 10:17.700 In addition, religious objections are also being raised against hand scanners and other biometric technology in the workplace. 10:17.840 --> 10:24.260 Now, here we have a case from 2013 where a religious objection was raised. 10:24.260 --> 10:26.120 Quick rundown of the facts. 10:26.120 --> 10:42.820 A coal miner in West Virginia filed a Title VII religious discrimination case against his employer, Consul Energy, for refusing to accommodate his religious objection to using the biometric hand scanner to clock in and out at work. 10:42.820 --> 10:55.340 The employee feared that using Consul's hand scanner here would be tantamount to the mark of the beast and could lead to his identification with the Antichrist. 10:55.780 --> 10:58.320 So what was the outcome of this case? 10:58.400 --> 11:14.320 The district court ultimately ruled in favor of the employee because the company here had failed to make available to a sincere religious objector the same reasonable accommodation that it offered to other employees. 11:16.000 --> 11:28.020 So having explored what this technology is, the privacy and information security concerns, let's turn to talking about the current state of the law. 11:28.340 --> 11:31.140 Presently, 11 states in the U.S. 11:31.140 --> 11:36.820 have passed statutes banning mandatory human microchips. 11:37.080 --> 11:52.420 In California, it is unlawful for anyone, not just employers, but anyone to require, coerce, or compel any other individual to undergo having this device implanted. 11:52.420 --> 12:02.740 Similarly, in Wisconsin, they have a statute that recites that no person may require an individual to undergo the implanting of a microchip. 12:02.940 --> 12:12.940 Other states that have enacted similar protective legislation are Maryland, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Utah. 12:14.740 --> 12:26.120 A few states, however, have enacted legislation that only forbids employers from requiring employees to be microchipped. 12:26.640 --> 12:39.660 Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana, and Montana also protect independent contractors and prohibit any state agency or local government from requiring people to be microchipped. 12:40.620 --> 12:50.580 And at the time of this presentation, the states with pending legislation on this issue are Rhode Island, Iowa, Tennessee, and New Jersey. 12:52.540 --> 13:00.740 Now, in terms of the state that has the most restrictive legislation on this technology, Nevada takes the lead here. 13:00.760 --> 13:20.300 While not a total ban, as previously proposed in 2017, Nevada Assembly Bill 226 prohibits any officer or employee of the state, or any political subdivision thereof, or any other person from, from doing the following three things. 13:20.300 --> 13:26.040 One, requiring another person to undergo having this device implanted. 13:26.040 --> 13:34.340 Two, establishing a program that authorizes a person to voluntarily elect to undergo this procedure. 13:34.340 --> 13:46.660 And lastly, participating in a program established by another person, if the program authorizes a person to voluntarily elect to undergo this procedure. 13:49.380 --> 13:52.960 So where do we go from here? 13:53.180 --> 14:17.600 In a seminal law review article written in 1890 by Warren and Brandeis, they wrote, while this still holds true, the design of the law must be to protect those persons with whose affairs the community has no legitimate concern from being dragged into an undesirable and undesired publicity, 14:17.600 --> 14:30.000 and to protect all persons whatsoever, their position or station, from having matters which they may properly prefer to keep private, made public against their will. 14:31.700 --> 14:50.760 And keeping with the spirit of those, those words expressed by Brandeis and Warren, it is the sole responsibility also of technologists to design products that can protect users from having their personal, financial, and health data from being made public against their will, 14:50.760 --> 14:56.280 and also for users to be well informed of their privacy rights. 14:56.380 --> 15:01.540 The onus here can't be on the law alone to protect all persons. 15:01.720 --> 15:14.140 And it's that trinity of shared responsibility here versus a total ban on the technology that can sustain designing a future for all to enjoy. 15:15.100 --> 15:20.520 Now I like to end my talks on uplifting notes. 15:20.520 --> 15:24.980 And on that note, Frank, take it away. 15:29.620 --> 15:35.840 I've got you under my skin. 15:37.220 --> 15:43.980 I've got you deep in the heart of me. 15:44.920 --> 15:50.840 So deep in my heart that you're really a part of me. 15:50.860 --> 15:52.760 Deep in my heart that you're really a part of me. 15:52.760 --> 15:59.680 I've got you under my skin. 16:00.000 --> 16:06.380 I tried so not to give in. 16:07.620 --> 16:14.860 I said to myself, this affair never will go so well. 16:15.560 --> 16:22.600 But why should I try to resist when, baby, I know so well. 16:23.100 --> 16:29.340 I've got you under my skin. 16:30.580 --> 16:45.480 I'd sacrifice anything, come what might, for the sake of having you near, in spite of a warning voice that comes in the night and repeats, repeats in my ear. 16:45.480 --> 16:51.980 Don't you know, little fool, you never can win. 16:52.640 --> 16:55.760 Use your mentality. 16:56.380 --> 16:59.040 Wake up to reality. 17:03.390 --> 17:09.510 All right, that was fear, uncertainty, and doubt about human microchip implants. 17:09.530 --> 17:13.130 We actually have Johnna Smith with us here right now. 17:13.370 --> 17:19.170 If there's any questions, please direct them to the Q&A Discord chat. 17:22.010 --> 17:25.530 Thank you for the very interesting talk. 17:27.270 --> 17:28.570 Thank you for having me. 17:28.570 --> 17:29.610 It was a pleasure. 17:29.650 --> 17:33.170 Happy to stand by to answer any questions that you all may have. 17:42.620 --> 17:44.520 I see some typing in the chat. 17:44.520 --> 17:50.460 We'll see if there's any questions here. 17:55.360 --> 17:57.680 All right, we've got one. 17:57.680 --> 18:03.620 Do you think any states might try to ban voluntary microchip implanting? 18:06.340 --> 18:08.580 Thank you for the question. 18:09.260 --> 18:11.840 It's a possibility. 18:12.120 --> 18:27.300 It's striking that Nevada has passed the most restrictive legislation on this that, going back to the slide that listed the three circumstances in which it could be banned. 18:28.280 --> 18:32.800 One, if a person is required to undergo this procedure. 18:32.960 --> 18:36.180 So there's an involuntariness aspect to that. 18:36.180 --> 18:40.860 And then the second part is someone who voluntarily elects to undergo this. 18:40.860 --> 18:58.280 Specifically, the statute, Nevada Bill Assembly Bill 226, recites that establishing a program that authorizes a person to voluntarily elect to undergo the implantation of such a microchip or permanent identification marker. 18:58.280 --> 19:05.220 So I would say Nevada's legislation here is directly on point with your question. 19:05.220 --> 19:09.620 And to my knowledge, this state ranks as the most restrictive. 19:10.260 --> 19:11.340 Thank you. 19:11.340 --> 19:14.140 That is a bit surprising from Nevada. 19:16.080 --> 19:18.100 We've got another question. 19:18.100 --> 19:23.780 What do you think about the Elon Musk brain implant that would stream music to our brains? 19:23.780 --> 19:27.620 Personally, I think that's the beginning of something very bad. 19:29.540 --> 19:31.640 Very interesting question. 19:31.640 --> 19:34.400 I have to admit, I'm not familiar with Mr. 19:34.400 --> 19:41.120 Musk's proposal to have a device implanted in our craniums to stream music. 19:41.120 --> 19:44.140 After this talk, I need to Google that. 19:44.780 --> 19:55.940 I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that particular device, only with the implants that can be implanted surgically into your hand. 19:58.560 --> 20:00.200 All right, we've got another. 20:00.200 --> 20:03.340 You sound generally positive about the technology. 20:03.340 --> 20:06.620 Really, there are no side effects and no negatives? 20:09.700 --> 20:11.440 Thank you for the question. 20:11.440 --> 20:15.840 I wouldn't say that I'm overly positive about it or negative. 20:16.540 --> 20:20.400 Inherently, I don't think technology is good or bad. 20:20.400 --> 20:23.300 It's how we decide to use it. 20:23.380 --> 20:35.720 The presentation, I tried to present the arguments on both sides here, the controversy surrounding the use in an objective way, but also use humor. 20:35.720 --> 20:43.240 There's a great quote by Soren Kierkegaard that when looking at life's horrors, sometimes the only sensible thing to do is to laugh. 20:43.260 --> 20:48.380 The comedic tone is to highlight that. 20:49.440 --> 20:58.660 There are significant privacy concerns here, as well as information security concerns, and religious objections as well. 20:58.720 --> 21:11.380 Several religious groups are concerned that this technology, as the presentation mentioned, could lead to identification with the Antichrist in that 2013 court case. 21:11.520 --> 21:27.960 There are compelling arguments to be made on both sides, but again, it's how the technology is being used as a tool that determines whether or not it's being used for malicious purposes or something beneficial for society. 21:27.960 --> 21:51.540 The benefits of this technology are the speed and convenience, but again, that comes at a price and one that deserves careful scrutiny, particularly how the third-party business records doctrine will extend here, not only with the Supreme Court's ruling on this in the 1970s with business records, 21:51.540 --> 21:55.800 how those are treated, but with the recent case of U.S. 21:55.800 --> 21:55.960 v. 21:55.960 --> 22:11.300 Carpenter in 2018, where the court narrowed the scope of the third-party records doctrine with respect to the Fourth Amendment, how that will play out with this technology is a fascinating open question. 22:11.740 --> 22:12.720 Thank you. 22:12.920 --> 22:15.820 Thank you, that was a very thoughtful answer. 22:16.440 --> 22:19.080 And it looks like we have one last question. 22:19.080 --> 22:29.340 Within the world now, do you see any particular governments seeking mandatory implants to track and monitor citizens, for example China, with their social tracking scores and such? 22:31.240 --> 22:32.620 Great question. 22:32.620 --> 22:37.560 What will the future look like come 2030 with this technology? 22:38.440 --> 22:46.640 Presently, I'm not aware of any country compelling people to insert this technology into themselves. 22:47.260 --> 22:58.360 Again, in Sweden, it is voluntary, and Sweden ranks as having the most people there using this technology. 22:59.180 --> 23:20.180 And it was interesting, not only has this technology been embraced in accessing the gym, accessing your workspace, cashless payment systems, riding the train, there's a piece of legislation in Sweden that by 2023, they aim to have a totally cashless system on the train, 23:20.180 --> 23:28.200 and there's talk of having this technology also used as your ticket, your e-ticket, for air travel. 23:28.200 --> 23:36.960 But I'm not aware of any country using this in a coercive manner, compelling the people to insert it into themselves. 23:36.960 --> 23:44.120 But come 2030, as this technology becomes more prevalent, that's a very valid concern. 23:44.120 --> 23:45.140 Thank you. 23:45.300 --> 23:48.280 Yeah, I've got one myself. 23:48.280 --> 24:09.040 When we see all of these different social things like being able to take the train, being able to pay for stuff, making all those common life things a lot easier, is that really a voluntary thing when there's so much social pressure to want to get this, 24:09.040 --> 24:11.620 to make it your life easier? 24:12.600 --> 24:14.400 I see. 24:15.120 --> 24:35.860 So the question is, if this technology becomes so prevalent, and in order to participate in today's society and interact with people, would you necessarily need this to become active in society? 24:40.500 --> 24:45.020 Well, you have the freedom of choice whether you want this. 24:45.020 --> 24:52.980 I would think that alternatives would also be developed, that you don't have that fear of missing out, FOMO. 24:54.560 --> 25:15.780 But if I can draw an analogy to social media, not everyone uses social media, but they are still able to have an active social life, that would be the best analogy I can come up with on the spot of whether or not, if I didn't have this technology, can I still talk with my friends? 25:15.780 --> 25:18.840 Can I still participate in day-to-day life? 25:18.940 --> 25:22.680 You can still enjoy life without being a member of Facebook. 25:22.680 --> 25:24.080 Mm-hmm. 25:24.080 --> 25:25.000 Thank you. 25:25.000 --> 25:26.040 All right. 25:26.040 --> 25:27.960 Thank you very much for joining us today.