For workers at self-service vending company Three Square Market, getting microchipped is as common as carrying an ID badge at a regular employer: starting in 2018, employees at the company began getting the tiny wireless devices embedded in their hands, in the skin between their thumb and forefinger.
At Three Market Square, they were an experimental gimmick; workers could use their microchips to quickly pay for snacks from the vending machine, swipe into the office, and log onto company devices. Yet for some lawmakers, workplace microchipping poses a serious threat to workers’ right to privacy.
Now, lawmakers in Washington state want to put a stop to any future chipping. Known as House Bill 2303, the proposed act would prohibit employers from microchipping employees, and lay out formal penalties for companies that break the law.
“An employer may not request, require, or coerce any employee to have a microchip implanted in the employee for any reason,” a line in the proposed bill reads. The proviso includes any device implanted beneath the skin that transmits data to an external device.
“This act reinforces the principle that decisions about a person’s body belong to the individual — not to their employer; and that employers should compete for talent through wages, benefits, and working conditions — not through invasive monitoring technologies,” the legislation reads. “The legislature further intends to provide a private right of action so that individuals harmed by violations of this act may seek redress in court.”
There is one major loophole, however. The bill specifically doesn’t cover medical devices used in “diagnosis” or “monitoring” or health conditions, leaving a confusing rhetorical gap in place. At the nonprofit Data & Society observed in a 2023 report, there are serious concerns that employers are already exploiting worker health data via wellness apps.
While there don’t seem to be any companies in Washington state trying to mandate subdermal chips at the moment, there’s no telling what could be coming as human microchips only become more innovative.
More on chip implants: Man Loses Password to Chip Embedded Inside His Body