My biohacking experience. Part 1: RFID

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On GT, RFID implant publications have already been skipped several times. I want to talk about my experience of using them and acquaint GT readers with a rather well-known among biohackers, but never before mentioned on a GT bodmod - an implantable magnet. At the moment, I am the owner of three RFID tags and one magnet - all in my left hand.



In the first part of the article, I will talk about implantable RFID tags of the 2x12mm form factor and a DIY silicone implant and answer frequently asked questions about them.



Pictures are clickable.

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Correct answer

Prehistory

A few years ago, I came across an article about implantable NFC tags. I liked the idea of ​​a key that can not be lost, which should not be taken out of a pocket that could open doors and unlock a phone, and I decided to order myself one.



I financed Amal's campaign on Indiegogo to create an implantable tag with a more advanced chip - NTAG216. Some months of waiting - and I have the label.

First label

Name: xNT

Standard: NFC

Frequency: 13.56 MHz

Chip: NTAG216

Dimensions: 2x12mm

Coating: glass

Cost: $ 99

The tag was bundled with a set for implantation. Immediately the question arose: whether to install the label yourself, or find a professional? After watching the video, where a friend of twenty minutes was poking his injector in his hand, the first option somehow disappeared. Therefore, I found a piercing salon where I agreed to install an implant.



The implantation itself took only a few minutes: in fact, it differs from the injection only by preliminary anesthesia and by stitching up a hole in the skin in order to eliminate the risk that the implant will fall out through it. Although, in fact, it is completely optional.



I will say right away: the implant disappointed me. The lock , which I installed specifically for this implant, did not always read it the first time, sometimes I had to hold my hand over the reader a second time. The phone practically did not read the implant: it was necessary to find the best reading point for this phone (it has its own for each phone), attach the implant to exactly this point and, in most cases, move the phone around. This put an end to unlocking the phone with an implant: it was almost impossible to blind him. To open the door, he is not perfect, but suitable.



Somewhere in 6 months, he suddenly stopped reading. After removal and replacement with a new (exactly the same) implant, the old one began to be read. It seems that he suddenly had a greatly decreased reading range, and he stopped reading through the skin. I still wonder what it was and how it is possible.



Amal naturally refused to return on the basis that the implant is read, but sent a new one instead. So, as he returned the implant after some time (along with m31, which is in the next part, not to pay for delivery twice), I understand that he just lost the old defective implant and sent a new one)



With the new implant, this problem did not happen, and it has been successfully used as a key to the front door somewhere from September 2014 to the present day.

Second label

Standard: NFC

Frequency: 13.56 MHz

Chip: NTAG216

Dimensions: approximately 25x3mm

Coating: silicone

The master (body modification artist, unfortunately, does not translate into Russian, so I’ll call him that further), who installed the tag, offered to simply buy a regular tag-sticker and fill it with silicone. In this way, it is possible to obtain an implant, though much larger in size, but with a much longer reading range.



For this implant, I chose the same chip as the first one - NTAG216. So I bought a sticker on eBay with this chip, and the master filled it with silicone and ground it to minimize the size.





Label prototype, before turning excess silicone. Over time, badly hesitated.





As expected, the read range increased significantly compared to the first mark - the phone began to read it from a distance of about 2 cm. It became convenient to use it to unlock the phone via NFC. Initially, I planned to use it as a key to the front door, but by that time I somehow got used to the old tag. And the old one is much safer - it is harder to consider it unauthorized.



What turned out to be strange for me was that it was hardly visible on the x-ray — I expected to see a beautiful antenna pattern, but it turned out that only a barely noticeable round seal was visible. Apparently, the antenna foil was too thin.



The only problem is that the implant is visible under the skin, if you clench your hand into a fist. However, if you don’t know about it, it’s quite difficult to notice. In fact, so far only one person has managed to do this).





Hand view at the time of writing



The implant has been used successfully to unlock the phone since March 2016.

Third label

Name: xEM

Standard: EM-Marine

Frequency: 125 kHz

Chip: ATA5577

Dimensions: 2x12mm

Coating: glass

Cost: $ 57

Initially, I planned to make the silicone implant double: to combine in it both NFC and rewritable EM-Marine tags (ATA5577 chip). The problem is that the latter are available only in the card form factor. The card had to be dissolved in hot acetone and the resulting antenna with the chip was wrapped in silicone along with an NFC sticker. Its reliability after such repacking would obviously be greatly reduced.



However, at the last moment, Amal had a label with an ATA5577 chip of the already known 2x12mm form factor. I remembered the problems with the previous label of this form factor, but I decided to take a chance - I don’t really like collective farm solutions)





Injector





Unlike xNT implantation, the wound was not sutured, because the implant was located significantly farther from the needle entry point.



This time the implant did not disappoint. Either the LF tags are generally read at a greater distance than the HF, or the readers are more powerful (probably both), the reading radius completely suits me.



The implant was conceived as a universal key for various access control systems - the vast majority of them use 125 KHz EM-Marine tags. For those cases when it is not possible to register your label in the access control system and a chip was chosen with the possibility of rewriting the ID. Copying tags produced using Chinese duplicator for 500r with Aliexpress.





Duplicator



The implant has been successfully used for opening doors and turnstiles at work since April 2016.

Q & A

In conclusion, I would like to answer questions that are often asked to me or other people .

Q: What if the implant breaks inside the arm?

A:

Will not break. Above the mark is a layer of skin, under - a large number of muscles and connective tissue. They absorb shock well. You can check it yourself: take a small piece of glass, put it on a pillow, cover it with a blanket and try to break it. Do you think you can do it without using heavy tools? Plus, the label is not as fragile as it seems. As a result of this, you can only break a mark with a hammer. But if you are hit on the hands with a hammer - I think that you will worry about the security of the tag last) But, even if you somehow manage to break the mark - it is unlikely that there will be any serious consequences: any implant in the human body over time, it acquires a durable capsule (capsular contracture) of scar tissue and fragments are unlikely to come out of it.

Q: What if someone unlawfully counts the label?

A:

I have described above the difficulty of reading a 2x12 form factor tag. It will be very difficult to unauthorizedly consider it using the phone - at least, you need to know its exact location. It is necessary to have either a very powerful reader and fence external power for it, or to use violence — against which any other types of keys are vulnerable).



As for the large silicone tag - yes, it is relatively easy to consider it unauthorized. Therefore, I abandoned the idea of ​​using it as a key to something important. And anyway, the reader will have to put to the hand - most likely, I will notice.

Q: CIA / FBI / Masons / Aliens !!!!! 1111

A:

Again, they will have serious problems with the reading range. In order to read the mark at a reasonable distance, you need a device the size of somewhere with the Arecibo radio telescope. There are much cheaper ways of shadowing. Your potential enemies will most likely use them.

Q: What are the health risks?

A:

Virtually none. 2x12 labels use special biocompatible glass Schott 8625. Silicone also has a very high biocompatibility. If any problems with biocompatibility arise, they will arise immediately after installation and the implant can be quickly removed.

Q: Are there any discomfort from the implants?

A:

Not. 2x12 tags are located in soft tissues and too small to be felt. The silicone implant was felt for the first couple of months, then the body adapted to it and now it is almost not felt even when touched with the place of its implantation.

Q: Are implants detected by X-rays at the airport / metal detectors / anti-theft systems? Will they interfere with medical procedures such as MRI, CT and X-rays?

A:

Not. X-ray at the airport does not detect such small objects. There is even less metal in the tags, so metal detectors will not detect them either. Anti-theft systems do not respond to all RFID tags in a row, otherwise they would have worked on almost everyone passing by, because almost everyone has any tags with them. Although I once had a case that the anti-theft system worked on an empty rewritable EM-Marine tag. The labels do not contain any significant amount of ferromagnets, so that even the strongest magnetic fields of MRI will not harm either the implant or its carrier. As for CT / X-ray - as you can see, I managed to successfully take a X-ray of my hand. Naturally, all implants are still working.



In the second part I will talk about magnetic implants.



Articles on Habré this subject:



" American Freak offers kits for implanting a RFID chip under the skin

" Everything you wanted to know about implantable tags, but were afraid to ask

" How I implanted RFID into my hand, and then NFC



I thank Amal Graafstra and Maxim Yampolsky for the development and implantation of tags.