Tesla Owner Can Unlock, Start Car with Her Arm Thanks to Bio Hack

Technology already surrounds us and, increasingly, it is also finding its way inside of us. Amie Dansby, aka Amie DD, a software engineer and self-billed geek, has taken on a bio-hack project that lets her start a car using just her arm; no keyfob or other type of devices needed.

Using an RFID chip in her arm, Amie can simply get into her Tesla Model 3 and drive away.

In a series of videos on her YouTube channel, Amie explains that she already has an RFID chip in her hand from an older bio hack. It offers her “basic” access to her house and phone; she also uses it to unlock her door or to make any cellphone open her webpage in a browser.

When she pre-ordered the Model 3 and heard it comes with a valet keycard, she got the idea to take the software off it and upload it onto her existing RFID implant. To Tesla’s credit, the chip was secure enough to prevent copying and using the software.

After speaking to doctors during a year of research, Amy set to getting another implant in her body. She dissolved the keycard in acetone to remove the chip, which she had encased in a biopolymer and implanted under the skin through a hollow needle.

The biopolymer is safe and, Amie says, doesn’t trigger alarms when she goes through TSA checks. More importantly, the RFID chip (an ST Micro) doesn’t need charging. When close to the Tesla reader, the chip receives current in the form of electromagnetic waves, which makes it possible to check the information on it.

So, to unlock and start the car, Amie simply brings her arm close to the reader area on the car. Right now, her arm is still swollen from the implant, which means the range isn’t that good, but she believes it will improve once the swelling goes down.

Although we live in a world where keyless cars are reality, smart appliances the norm, and Internet-connected devices ever-present, Amie’s grand announcement of her Tesla bio hack has generated a wave of criticism. Religious groups and even IT people have blasted her for something she believes will soon be the new normal: using implants, i.e. bio hacks, to connect with our devices more easily.

Video credit: Amy DD