The health passport under the skin, the proposal of a Swedish company

Terrifying surveillance or practical solution to COVID-19? In Sweden, a country at the forefront of subcutaneous microchips, a company has developed a health passport that can be worn under the skin.

“I think it is part of my integrity, to carry a chip and keep my personal information for myself,” explains Amanda Back, a citizen of Stockholm who uses the chip developed by the company DSruptive Subdermals.

“I feel that I have greater control by being inside my hand”, adds this person in charge of a space dedicated to new technologies.

Although there is no public data on this practice, several thousand Swedes have implanted this electronic device under their skin in recent years to replace keys, business cards, train tickets … and in the case of some, their vaccination certificate.

The Scandinavian country is one of the bastions of the “biohackers”, who consider this type of solutions the future of humanity despite the misgivings they arouse for many other people.

More advantages, according to its defenders: “An implanted microchip costs around one hundred euros in the case of the most advanced versions, compared to smart bracelets, which generally cost twice as much; an implant can last 30 or 40 years, while a bracelet lasts three or four years “, argues Hannes Sjoblad, head of DSruptive Subdermals, for whom the health passport is just one of the examples of possible applications of this device.

The businessman, who says he is “very concerned” about privacy issues, nevertheless observes “with great concern” that many people view implants with fear, “as a surveillance technology.”

The microchips “do not have a battery and cannot transmit signals by themselves, they cannot tell where you are and are only activated in contact with a smartphone,” he recalls, ensuring that he defends their exclusively voluntary use and that, if someone tries to make it mandatory, he would object.