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Privacy Hardware

How I Got Locked Out of the Chip Implanted In My Hand (vice.com) 106

Posted by EditorDavid from the fat-fingering dept.
Motherboard staff writer Daniel Oberhaus writes: If I had a single piece of advice for anyone thinking about getting an NFC chip implant it would be to do it sober.... [A]t the urging of everyone at the implant station, the first thing I did with my implant was secure it with a four-digit pin. I hadn't decided what sort of data I wanted to put on the chip, but I sure as hell didn't want someone else to write to my chip first and potentially lock me out. I chose the same pin that I used for my phone so I wouldn't forget it in the morning -- or at least, I thought I did.... I spent most of my first day as a cyborg desperately cycling through the various pin possibilities that made it impossible for me to unlock the NFC chip in my hand and add data to it.
He remained locked out of his own implanted microchip for over a year. But even when he regained access, "a part of me wants to leave it blank. After a year of living with a totally useless NFC implant, I kind of started to like it.

"That small, almost imperceptible little bump on my left hand was a constant reminder that even the most sophisticated and fool-proof technologies are no match for human incompetence."
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How I Got Locked Out of the Chip Implanted In My Hand More

How I Got Locked Out of the Chip Implanted In My Hand

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  • And the chicks would love it. :)

  • Kids nowadays (Score:5, Informative)

    by zamboni1138 ( 308944 ) on Sunday November 18, 2018 @09:42PM (#57665302)
    So the new hip cool thing is to get drunk (glad to see that hasn't changed) and go down to the local "implant station" and have an "NFC chip" (whatever that is) injected into your body?

    Kids nowadays are nuts.
    • come on man this is a tech site "news for nerds" NFC isn't that new or complicated or esoteric. It's part of the technology that lets you touch phones together to transfer pictures or contact information. Many (if not most) phones have this. It's been around for a long time, it's how you use your phone to pay for things. I think it might be how credit cards that let you tap to pay work. That's basically what it is. You can program it to interface with other things but you can use it to turn your hand into

      • But isn't that the first feature everyone turns off?

        • But isn't that the first feature everyone turns off?

          Doubt it. But to be fair potentially that may be the case. For me NFC doesn't drain that much battery enough for me to care and I use it regularly though not often. Easier to keep it on than turn it off.

      • it's how you use your phone to pay for things

        Being familiar with how it functions hardly equates to being dumb enough to want to use it.

        Geez.

        • it's how you use your phone to pay for things

          Being familiar with how it functions hardly equates to being dumb enough to want to use it.

          Geez.

          But if you read back to the OP

          an "NFC chip" (whatever that is)

          being familiar with how if functions is what we're talking about. We're not debating whether it's useful or fun. My point is that most people know enough about NFC to be able to understand "NFC chip".

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AC-x ( 735297 )

      (Cyberpunk 2077 logo)

    • "NFC chip" (whatever that is)

      NFC (Near Field Coupling) is primarily inductive coupling, mostly in the ISM band of 13.56MHz.
      NFC antennas are small compared to their wavelength making them very inefficient far field radiators, but fine at near field inductive coupling.

      Think of near field as the area in which you can influence the radiating device and far field as the propagating wave that has 'left' the radiating device.
      Near fields attenuate 1/r3 to distance compared 1/r for Far fields. Thus it is difficult to pick up NFC comms unless yo

      • Re:NFC, technical (Score:5, Informative)

        by Jane Q. Public ( 1010737 ) on Monday November 19, 2018 @12:33AM (#57665766)
        It's Near Field Communication, not "coupling".

        And its name is a misnomer, since anything that works over RF can be accessed at an arbitrary distance, given a large enough antenna and the proper electronics.

        NFC was cracked by Christopher Siobhan, with equipment that could read NFC information at a distance from cards equipped with the technology, with $200 worth of hardware.

        BEFORE it was ever widely adopted or included in smartphones. Only 1 or maybe 2 phone models advertised it as a feature at the time. And it wasn't yet a common feature of debit or credit cards.

        • And its name is a misnomer, since anything that works over RF can be accessed at an arbitrary distance, given a large enough antenna and the proper electronics.

          Not necessarily. You also need:
          - An adequate signal to noise ratio.
          - A propagating wave.

          An evanescent wave - one that decays exponentially rather than propagating - doesn't launch energy on a non-return path and is drastically weak after a quarter wavelength or so. Examples include the field just above the surface of a material con

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      One of my online friends isn't a child. He's over 40 years old and got this NFC chip. I wonder how many older people have these implants.

    • they had these things available at the "biohacking" village at defcon. soooo it wouldn't be surprising they did this drunk AF..

      ..among other things.

    • Kids nowadays are nuts.

      Yeah but they can hide it. It could be worse, they could come home with a tattoo.

  • A four digit PIN is just stupid (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Without a limit on the number of unlock attempts, someone else can still eventually access the chip (and lock you out until you've managed to break in again). With a limit on the number of unlock attempts however, there is an obvious denial of service attack opportunity. Either way you can be locked out of your own RFID chip. Stupid.

  • Implanted before there was a reason to... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Bobrick ( 5220289 ) on Sunday November 18, 2018 @10:12PM (#57665410)
    So this guy got a chip implanted in his hand -before- having any idea what he would do with it... I like how he talks about human incompetence, though plain old stupidity seems more at play here.
    • What were you expecting? This guy sounds like a tech journalist who has no technology background or interest in doing deep dives into hardware so he has to cover the human side of it. Since he’s a tech journalist with no real technical ability, it pretty much means he’s fallen so far down the rung of respectable journalism positions you probably shouldn’t expect much. So of course he’s going to chase down any new fad, since that’s all he’s got. About the only lower you ca

  • Don't understand (Score:4, Insightful)

    by fluffernutter ( 1411889 ) on Sunday November 18, 2018 @10:59PM (#57665564)
    How is it legal for a company to compel employees to modify their bodies?

    • How is it legal for a company to compel employees to modify their bodies?

      That makes two of us. I for example don't understand how your brain worked to produce that though in response to this article.

      • I'm talking about the ID in the hand, on an ID in the hand article. Are people being compensated for putting this ID in at least? I couldn't see a business legally being able to make you get a penis peiracing as a requirement to hold a job, how are they compelling people to be injected with these things?

        • I'm talking about the ID in the hand, on an ID in the hand article. Are people being compensated for putting this ID in at least? I couldn't see a business legally being able to make you get a penis peiracing as a requirement to hold a job, how are they compelling people to be injected with these things?

          You are most definitely not commenting on the article or summary you think you're commenting on. But to answer your question very directly: No the person did not get compensated, he actually paid for it out of his own money prompted by nothing other than alcohol, drunk friends, and las vegas.

          Not sure if you need to RTFA, RTFS or just RTF Headline ;-)

  • I laughed first, but now I’ve changed my min (Score:3)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Sunday November 18, 2018 @11:03PM (#57665582)

    We should cut this guy a little slack. Yes, it was a dumb thing to do in the first place - but he did own up to it, which may deter someone else from doing the same stupid thing. I expect a lot of people who found themselves in this situation would just clam up and hope no one found out.

    • I'm just gonna call it what it is, implanting under the influence (IUI).

      There're people who end up drinking, driving, killing people, and say "wow, i didn't know that could happen", can that be a legitimate excuse? Cut him some slack? No.  He posted his experience, he's going to get flack, and that's the end of it.  Come Monday morning, nobody is going to remember anyway, so roast him while you can.

    • Tattoo the pin on his foot (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Tattoo the pin code on his foot or ankle or the palm of his hand its the equivalent of the body mod sticky note.

  • >More Companies Plan To Implant Microchips Into Their Employees' Hands >How I Got Locked Out of the Chip Implanted In My Hand
  • I see a bigger problem, after a few years of Companies, "chipping" employees, the goverment will come in and have a "free" safety program, where kids and newborns will be chipped,in case of being lost or needing to be id. currently thereare stories being tested .where you just walk in and walk out and NO cashiers. take it one step farther tracking at all stores. right now our smart phones know where we are at all times and some places use that info
    • I think implanted cellphones are more likely to be mandatory. NFC range is much too limited and too easily blocked for government tracking purposes.

  • Comment removed (Score:3)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday November 19, 2018 @04:31AM (#57666228)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Alternate advice (Score:3)

    by stealth_finger ( 1809752 ) on Monday November 19, 2018 @05:23AM (#57666354)
    If I had a single piece of advice for anyone thinking about getting an NFC chip implant it would be...don't. Just don't. Especially if it's for work.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      What do you mean 'for work' ??

      You cant possibly be compelled to do this in any free country

    • Especially if it's for work.

      Why especially if it's for work? The criteria should not be if it's for work or not, it should be that *you* are in control of its data.

      • Especially if it's for work.

        Why especially if it's for work? The criteria should not be if it's for work or not, it should be that *you* are in control of its data.

        Privacy issues and all that aside because what happens when you change jobs? Who owns it? Are they going to want their chip back? Are the next company going to want to put their own chip in? There's literally no advantage over something you wear like an ID card other than it can't be lost and lot's of disadvantages before you even get to the 1984 stuff.

        • Privacy issues and all that aside because what happens when you change jobs? Who owns it?

          Are you arguing or agreeing with me. As I said the only criteria is that *you* are in control. Before you talk about 1984 stuff it's worth remembering just how incredibly basic these devices are, how simple they are to modify, how universal their design is, and how short range this is.

          Even if you had one of these in your hand right now, you DO have far bigger concerns.

          • Well, if it's your device and it's your choice then that's fair enough I guess, up to you. But as an employer mandated tracking and access device, no way. I agree though there are way bigger actual problems than this largely hypothetical stuff. The technology exists but it's not likely it will implemented this way on a large scale, maybe the odd place or so that consider it a bit of a novelty.

  • On becoming livestock (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Pets, livestock, and yes, slaves are marked or branded by their owners/masters.

    Resent being a "wage slave"? Then why take the leap to being an actual slave or cattle?

    I'm astonished that any human being with a shred of self-worth would ever allow themselves to be branded/tattood/chipped/etc. Might as well be castrated and have a big ring installed in your nose....oh, wait, I think there are people in San Francisco doing that to themselves already. Never mind. [sigh]

  • Nobody needs a year (Score:3)

    by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Monday November 19, 2018 @07:45AM (#57666626)

    ...to check 10.000 possibiities.

  • More like the mark of an idiot.

    Use a card or some other token with NFC in it. If you move jobs or if technology advances you'll feel a lot less stupid than you will a useless chip permanently implanted in your skin.

  • You thought that this new, cutting-edge technology would be "fool-proof"?

    You thought that any technology, *anywhere*, was "fool-proof"?

    Idiot.

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