A global study finds that many users find biohacking exciting, but remain fearful of hacking and privacy.
Technological modifications to the human body cover a wide range of things. Hearing aids, pacemakers, and prosthetic limbs are already in use, but in the future, we could use the term for smart devices or bionic eyes that can restore vision loss.
In terms of future applications, many countries are promoting the development of new technologies that could lead to improvements in the human body.
For example, Japan recently gave $1 billion to researchers willing to investigate longevity, due to the need to address an aging workforce and shrinking population.
In a discussion during Kaspersky NEXT 2020, senior security researcher David Jacoby and Marco Preuss, director of global research & analysis at Kaspersky Europe, spoke about military applications, industrial sectors, beauty and healthcare as the major areas where biohacking will be applied.
It may be strange to think about such a reality in an era when we have yet to create uninterrupted internet connections during remote events. But discussing the issue could lead to proactive regulations that will help this emerging industry – unlike the delay in addressing the Internet of Things (IoT) industry that paved the way for massive security problems.
On Thursday, Kaspersky released a new report on the future of human augmentation, which sought to clarify the views of citizens in many countries on the prospect of biohacking.
In July of this year, the study included responses from around 15,000 adults in 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Overall, 91% of respondents said they would change a feature of themselves if they could, and 63% said they would consider human augmentation.
Italians were most likely to consider human augmentation, with 81% of respondents saying they would consider it. Britons, on the other hand, were more cautious, with only 33% saying they would investigate technological modifications to the human body to alter their own features. Spain, Portugal, Greece and Morocco are also open to the idea of biohacking.
More than half of respondents, 53%, said biohacking should be used for the good of all, such as in medical cases. However, 69% expressed concern that biohacking in the future will be reserved for the wealthy.
Other interesting statistics published in the report include:
- 88% of people said they were afraid their bodies could be compromised by cybercriminals
- 36% of women and 25% of men believe that augmentation will improve their attractiveness
- Men are more interested in improving their endurance through biohacking at 23% while women are at 18%.
“Human augmentation is one of the biggest technological trends today,” Preuss commented. “But people are absolutely right to be cautious.”
