GRAND LEDGE – The mainstream media is full of stories this week about a Wisconsin vending machine company that plans to embed a rice-size microchip in the hands of employees on a voluntary basis on August 1, 2017.

According to NBC News:

 “With the wave of their hands, employees will be able to open doors that require identification cards, log into their computers, operate copy machines or pay for snacks out of the company’s vending machines, the company said.

The chips operate on electromagnetic fields and must be no more than 6 inches from a device that can read them, known as radio-frequency identification.

Three Square Market is partnering with Swedish-based BioHax International to install the technology, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2004 for the marketing of the VeriChip to medical patients. …”

Reactions to this news are all over the map, with headlines ranging from positive stories about the dawning of a great new era to Big Brother privacy concerns to fears that Biblical prophecies are about to come true.

Yesterday’s Predictions are Today’s Reality: How Did We Get to this Point?

Back in 2010 – ABC News ran this report which predicted that we would see implants by 2017, although their example was for medical purposes.

To read the rest of Dan Lohrmann’s column, click on http://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity/where-next-for-microchip-implants.html