A friend on another blog made a mention of a discussion she had about where would be the best place to insert an RFID chip that would unlock your front door. I started thinking about that, and went through some pros and cons of different locations, as well as saw some pretty disturbing visions of our technological future.

In the hand would be my first choice. Probably just at the base of the thumb (palm side) since when you grip a door knob or a pull handle, that area is usually going to be in contact with the knob or handle. (assuming that the receiver antenna is on the handle area) The problems with that location would be that you would have to either use one hand to unlock the door all the time, or have an implant in each hand. If you had both hands full, at least you could bump your hand up against the knob and still get in. Assuming the door opens inward. An outward opening door would mean that you still had to put whatever you were carrying down to pull open the door, not really saving any effort.

The neck was the other location mentioned, but I could also go with the scalp, lower back, shoulder, or whatever other discreet area you choose (there are caveats to some of these that I'll mention shortly). Most RFID chips have a great enough range that they could easily activate a door from a few feet away. Jewelry may interfere, so the neck or wrist may not be the best location. Other locations would serve just as well, but still have issues. You would have to have a way to turn off the function for times that you didn't want your door to open or unlock every time you wandered to within a few feet of it. For example, someone is at the door. As you walk to the door to see who it is, the door senses your presence and opens right up. Suddenly you have a group of people staring at you offering to share their religious literature and views on how the afterlife will be filled with cheese or something. Not what we're looking for in a security device. The problem with turning the thing off is that you'll have people rushing out late for work/school/court dates and bashing headlong into the front door that suddenly doesn't open. Funny, although not optimal. (don't laugh too much, I know most of you have at one time or another walked or nearly walked into a supermarket door that didn't open as fast as it should have) Also, how much of an idiot would you look like to be standing outside your house explaining how you've locked yourself (the automatic opener is off, remember) out of your own house when you are the key?

The last issue is that, say, due to interference, the range is diminished and you have to get the RFID chip really close to the door handle, latch, etc. Who wants to see the neighbors peeking out the window to watch you gyrate around and rub whatever part of you that the chip is in all over the front door? That'll lead to some awkward moments at the neighborhood association meeting.

I just don't know if we are ready for that kind of technology.