A man in Perth, Western Australia has placed an RFID implant in his right hand, giving him keyless entry to his home and automobiles, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
Joe Wooller, a 28-year old father of two, had a passive RFID chip surgically implanted in June of this year. “The goal was really just to get rid of keys and to try to minimize the amount of clutter one would have in their pockets,” he said.
With just a swipe of his hand, Mr. Wooller can open the two doors to his house, his car and even start his motorcycle. “Just being able to jump on it and go for a ride [without keys] is pretty good,” he said. He does however still need a key to take the fuel cap off his motorcycle.
The process of getting the chip implanted was said to be fairly simple. A doctor administered a local anesthetic and the procedure was performed so that Wooller could even watch.
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I'm frankly surprised that RFIDnews thinks this story is newsworthy. The subject looks like a kook. At the very least, RFIDnews should be sensitive to the likely public reaction and potential for enormous confusion, and add some constructive editorial comment to head off controversy.
Many readers will want to know ...
The particular user is worryingly blase about skimming, saying that "not a lot of people would carry [skimming technology] around with them and the range is [so small] that it would be quite obvious if someone came up and tried to read it". But the attacks aren't going to be by random passers by. When RFID is used for physical access control, attackers know exactly where to position their attennas: by the door, and behind a bush!
This guy is not your best poster boy for RFID.
He might not be the best poster boy for RFID but when people choose to use RFID in different ways it can be newsworthy. I think it's clear from the story that this guy choose to chip himself and that we're not close to a world where chipping will be mandatory.