Indiana businesses won’t be allowed to require employees to be microchipped under legislation headed to Gov. Eric Holcomb.
The Indiana Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit companies from using the implantation of some type of tracking or identification device as a condition of employment for current or prospective workers.
House Bill 1143, authored by Rep. Alan Morrison, R-Brazil, passed the Senate 49-0. The House passed the same version of the bill last month.
The device-implantation process typically involves a rice-sized microchip that’s inserted between the index finger and thumb. The technology can control access to doors or computers, provide health data or even let someone get food out of a vending machine.
Morrison has filed similar legislation in previous years but failed to get anything passed through the Indiana General Assembly as lawmakers brushed off the need for it.
Some companies are using the technology, though. It has been used on a voluntary basis at Swedish startup hub Epicenter and at Wisconsin-based Three Market Square for years.
The bill would still allow a company in Indiana to offer microchipping on a voluntary basis.
Indiana would be the sixth state to implement such a law.
Holcomb, who can sign the bill, veto it or allow it to pass into law without his signature, has not taken a public position on the issue. A spokeswoman for the governor said “he will assess it when it gets to his desk.”
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Is this really the time our legislators should have been focused on? Always trying to solve problems that don’t exist while ignoring some of the major problems we, currently, in this state. Our part-time legislators’ time is limited and they really need to start focusing on what matters for all Hoosiers, not just those, that may be impacted, by a potential issue, that probably won’t take place in the next 5 years.
Glad we found a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Meanwhile, under-employment is high and the median household income for Hoosiers is almost 10% below the national median income, State gas tax dollars continue to be re-distributed unfairly, doughnut county residents continue to sap Marion County of its tax base, teachers are underpaid, and quality of life is in the toilet.
Good job, everyone.
Wow, A.T., that’s a well-documented list of gripes about Indiana. ‘Can’t believe you still live in such a God-forsaken state!
I know, Bob. It’s weird that I stick around and try to make the place that I call home better for everyone around me. Be that as it may, more people move out of Indiana each year than move in and there is a reason (or several reasons) for that.
A.T.: If the income is low, perhaps the cost of the standard of living offsets that, no? Would you like to pay the prices found in the larger cities; e.g. NYC, LA, Chicago, Houston (soon to be #3)?
For those commenting that this is a problem that doesn’t exist, I’d like to know how you would feel if YOUR employer decided to mandate being chipped tomorrow under penalty of being fired. If no law was in place to protect you would you still feel the same? Some laws are needed to solve problems…some to avoid problems. Get out of your own little sphere of problems and think of others.
Indiana is an “at-will” employment state. Employers can make microchipping “voluntary” and fire anyone who doesn’t volunteer. Or they can make the microchip open doors…no employee can get in to work without the chip.
This is a non-solution, but hey, it makes the legislature feel better.
MS.,
I would quit, as I have previously with employers, if I don’t agree with the actions they take or think its morally wrong. Just like I don’t think its right for certain non-competes some employers provide, but I still have a choice and can’t be forced.
MarketWatch and NYPost claim Indiana would be the 12th state to have such a law, not 6th:
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https://nypost.com/2020/02/04/states-are-working-to-ensure-your-employer-cant-force-you-to-wear-a-microchip/
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I would submit to a chip with three requirements:
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1) EVERYONE else would have to have it
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2) ALL detectors must be clearly marked so you can see every place you’re being scanned
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3) ALL data must be available to ALL employees at will – no need to apply for access, etc. it would be an open database and no one could be tracked for referencing the data.