The Swedish cyborg craze sees more than 4,000 Swedes insert chips under the skin

Thousands of Swedes have implanted microchips in their hands as part of a new biohacking trend in the country aimed at making people's daily lives easier.

Biohax, one of the companies involved in chip implementation, has announced that it has made more than 4,000 "installations" of this technology since it was launched five years ago, allowing users to replace their cards. identity cards, identity cards and train tickets.

The subcutaneous fleas, which are injected under the skin between the thumb and the index, use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, which can be found in everything from credit cards to passports.

Chips can be read by any device that supports Near Field Communication (NFC), which means most Android smartphones can recognize them. They do not need to be recharged as they do not need battery to operate.

They eliminate the need for items such as physical cards, pass codes and signatures, potentially enabling efficient and frictionless transactions at checkouts, international borders and travel terminals. However, due to the nature of the device, they raised privacy issues, some of them being tired of the chips used to track people.

Beyond the efficiency, the creators of implantable RFID chips claim that they help reduce plastic waste, figures from the International Card Manufacturers Association estimating that six billion cards are produced each year .

"In recent years, we have succeeded in replacing several companies with technical assistance to exchange their plastic access cards in the Biohax facility," says the company's website.

"We managed to help the Swedish national rail network to allow the installation of Biohax to replace paper tickets and plastic travel cards."

A Facebook page in Swedish dedicated to sub-cut RFID chips has received nearly 7,000 "likes", advocates claiming that technology is about to become mainstream.

Zoltan Istvan, a reputed transhumanist who was among the first to adopt the technology, said L & # 39; Independent as the number of uses of the chips continues to evolve, even if there are still limitations.

"Three years ago, I had an RFID chip in my hand and I used it to get in and out of my home, which is great because I no longer need to wear them. keys to the house, "he said.

"Unfortunately, advances in technology mean that my chip is already relatively late compared to current technology and that even minor surgery will be needed to improve it."

A potential solution to this problem, Mr Istvan said, would be to implant a tube under a flap of skin, from which fleas can easily be inserted and removed.