You’ve got two choices, employee: a) let us slide a syringe between your thumb and index finger so we can inject a rice-sized microchip into your hand that can be used as a swipe card to open doors, clock in, operate printers or buy junk out of the snack machine, or b) find another job.
An improbable scenario? Yes. It doesn’t happen – at least not if employees say no… For now. And the US state of Indiana wants to make sure it stays that way.
Last week, the state House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation – House Bill 1143 – stipulating that employers can’t force their employees to have an ID or tracking chip implanted in their bodies as a condition of employment. The bill passed the House 96-0 and is now heading to the Senate for consideration.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Alan Morrison, acknowledged that there aren’t any companies in Indiana – or anywhere, for that matter – currently forcing workers to be chipped if they want to keep their jobs, but there are businesses using the technology on a voluntary basis. As the Indiana Lawyer reports, Morrison said that he wants to be sure employers don’t “overstep their bounds” by imposing mandatory employee microchipping.
Privacy is an important thing. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with us being a little out in front of something.
Sure thing, said State Rep. Karlee Macer, who voted for the bill. On the other hand, we could spend our time legislating about issues that actually exist. NWI quoted her:
Think of the hundreds of bills that are sitting and waiting and never getting a hearing. There are a lot of important things we need to be doing in the state of Indiana.