A SWEDISH start-up has created an NFC-enabled microchip that can be implanted into the skin, displaying details of one’s COVID-19 vaccine passport when scanned.

The invention, created by tech firm Dsruptive Subdermals, involves a pre-programmed scannable implant 2 millimeters by 16 millimeters in size being inserted just beneath the skin. It is reported that an implant costs 100 euros (US$112).

“I have a chip implant in my arm and I have my COVID passport on the chip. The reason is that I want to have it accessible more easily,” said Hannes Sjoblad, managing director of Dsruptive Subdermals.

The chip can be read using near-field communication (NFC). Sjoblad demonstrated how it was possible to scan the chip with his phone to bring up a PDF that showed all the details of his EU Digital COVID Certificate. It indicates that one is inoculated against COVID-19, or that the person has been tested with a negative result.

“If I go to the movies or go to a shopping center, people will be able to check my status even if I don’t have my phone,” said Sjoblad, who is also chief disruption officer at start-up Epicenter Stockholm.

He said these implants are not tracking devices and only respond to being scanned. “These implants don’t have a battery, so they cannot transmit a signal by themselves. They are basically passive and they sit there asleep,” Sjoblad said. “They can never tell your location and they’re only activated when you touch them with your smartphone, so this means they cannot be used for tracking anyone’s location.”

Sjoblad also said the implant does not need to be removed in order to be updated. “It is easy to update the implant and you can use an app on your phone to change what is on the chip. So I can add new info to the chip every day: Yesterday it was my Linkedin, today it’s my COVID certificate and tomorrow it could be something else,” Sjoblad said.

Dsruptive Subdermals has also created another chip implant that can measure body temperature in people, and serve as a scannable temperature sensor.

Sjoblad’s interest in subdermal implants dates back to 2014, when he organized implant parties at tattoo parlors where volunteers turned up to get implants placed under their skin.

“I am convinced that this technology is here to stay and we will think it nothing strange to have an implant in one’s hand,” Sjoblad told the BBC in 2014, saying he hoped to get 1,000, then 10,000 people on board with the program.

While this idea might still be very new, thousands of people in Sweden have signed up to get microchip implants. In 2018, the NPR reported that thousands of people were getting the rice grain-sized chips inserted just above their thumbs, making it easy for them to get scan themselves into homes, gyms, and offices or to pay for public transport by swiping their hands over digital readers.(SD-Agencies)