Chipping in at Work: Privacy Concerns Related to the Use of Body Microchip ('RFID') Implants in the Employer?Employee Context

• Author: Dario A. Rodriguez
• Position: J.D. Candidate, The University of Iowa College of Law, 2019; B.A. in Political Science and Spanish, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2011
• Pages: 1581-1611

1581

Chipping in at Work:

Privacy Concerns Related to the Use of

Body Microchip (“RFID”) Implants in the

Employer–Employee Context

Dario A. Rodriguez*

ABSTRACT: The advent of Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”)

technology has brought significant change to the global economy and society.

While much of the change has improved citizens’ quality of life and resulted

in tremendous economic growth, some developments have come at the cost of

reduced employee privacy. The phenomenon of RFID microchip implants

threatens to further erode traditional notions of employee privacy in the

employer–employee context. To protect employee privacy, legislators at the state

and federal level should draft legislation that prohibits employers from

mandating that employees agree to RFID implants. In addition, any

legislation that addresses RFID implants should prohibit employers from

incentivizing current or potential employees to agree to receive RFID implants.

Such legislation should prohibit the use of an employee’s implant status in

making any determinations related to employment. It should further enable

claims for employment discrimination to prevent employers from compelling

or incentivizing employees to receive RFID implants, thus safeguarding

employee privacy.

I.INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1582

II.CHARTING RFID’S HISTORY FROM INCEPTION TO PRESENT ...... 1584

A.RFID, AN EARLY HISTORY ..................................................... 1585

B.THE 1980S AND 1990S—INCREASED ADOPTION OF RFID ...... 1586

C.RFID IN THE 21ST CENTURY ................................................. 1588

1.Retailer Use of RFID in the 21st Century .................. 1588

2.The Public Sector’s Use of RFID in the

21st Century ................................................................. 1590

3.Development of RFID Standards ............................... 1591

*

J.D. Candidate, The University of Iowa College of Law, 2019; B.A. in Political Science

and Spanish, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2011.

1582 IOWA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 104:1581

4.Concerns Related to RFID in the 21st Century ........ 1592

D.RFID’S APPLICATION IN THE WORKPLACE AND EMPLOYEE

MONITORING ........................................................................ 1593

1.RFID as a Tool to Access the Workplace ................... 1593

2.Application of RFID to Employee Safety ................... 1594

3.GPS Tracking and its Application to RFID

Employee Tracking Beyond the Office ..................... 1596

E.RFID BODY MICROCHIP IMPLANTS AND THEIR USE IN

THE WORKSPACE ................................................................... 1598

1.Early Body Microchip Implant Uses .......................... 1598

2.Expansion of Body Microchipping

to Employees ............................................................... 1600

3.Employee Microchipping in the United States ......... 1601

III.EMPLOYER MICROCHIP IMPLANT PROGRAMS AND

LEGISLATIVE RESPONSES ............................................................. 1603

A.HOW POPULAR WILL BODY MICROCHIPPING BECOME IN

THE EMPLOYMENT CONTEXT? ............................................... 1603

B.THE CURRENT STATE OF BODY MICROCHIPPING LAW ............. 1604

C.POTENTIAL EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS THAT MAY RESULT

FROM EMPLOYER MICROCHIPPING PROGRAMS ........................ 1606

IV. AMERICAN LAW SHOULD TAKE AN ACTIVE APPROACH TO

REGULATING EMPLOYER BODY MICROCHIP PROGRAMS.............. 1606

A.THE LAW SHOULD PROHIBIT MANDATORY EMPLOYEE

MICROCHIPPING.................................................................... 1607

B.EMPLOYERS SHOULD BE PROHIBITED FROM UTILIZING

BODY MICROCHIP STATUS TO MAKE DETERMINATIONS

ON EMPLOYMENT STATUS ...................................................... 1607

C.SUGGESTED MODEL LEGISLATION .......................................... 1608

V.CONCLUSION .............................................................................. 1610

I. INTRODUCTION

“Radio frequency identification (“RFID”) technology is a wireless

communication technology that enables users to uniquely identify tagged

objects or people.”1 The technology requires two physical components:

readers and tags. RFID readers “gather information from . . . RFID tag[s],

which [are] used to track individual objects. Radio waves are used to transfer

1. V. DANIEL HUNT ET AL., RFID-A GUIDE TO RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION xi (2007).