Unix Engineer Takes RFID Implant In HandUnix Engineer Takes RFID Implant In Hand

If Sklar doesn't mind reading just a few letters at a time, he will be able to access Internet content about 30 feet away from his laptop, "without being chained to the computer, though it'll probably be kind of aggravating."

He said using the chip is less important than learning about RFID technology.

"I've always been a gadget person," he said.

He acknowledges the chip is very insecure and not encrypted, but it doesn’t contain sensitive information. Its range is also limited. So, privacy concerns he has about RFID don't apply to his personal experiment. If he ever needs them, he has already created pockets that block frequencies used for RFID enabled credit cards.

Reseller Trossen Innovations sold the Phidget tag and reader in question. The company's Web site states that the tags are not for human use and warns of their danger.

Founder and CEO Matt Trossen said during an interview Tuesday that he believes at least two people have bought tags and readers – marketed on his site for experimental use – for personal implants. Amal Graafstra posted a demonstration of his procedure on a body piercing and tattooing Web site early last year. Trossen soon posted a warning.

"They're sold as livestock tags, but we sell to students and hobbyists using RFID kits for school projects, home projects, to let people experiment," Trossen said. "We don't store them in a sterile environment. There's a whole underground of body modifiers out there that are having fun, curious about technology, tattooing, piercing and putting things under their skin. It seems like RFID technology is appealing to them as well."

Trossen characterizes Graafstra as a good guy, who's daring, not crazy. Graafstra's procedure served as a guide for Sklar, who said he sterilized everything and has little fear of infection or of crushing the device.

Sklar said he has no plans to install another RFID device soon – at least not until the technology advances enough to store the amount of data inside an address book.