Legal/Ethical/Security Concerns of EES

Legal/Ethical/Security Concerns of the Epidermal Electronics System

                Legal and ethical issues that may arise as a result of this technology are closely related to the security concerns.  The technology can be expanded on to include new ways of monitoring people and new spy technology (Hartmann).  EES was developed for medical uses but much of the technology, which may be programmed in this patch, can be used for a variety of different uses.  The EES could be placed on a person without their knowledge (Hartmann).  A person could be bumped, or the EES is lightweight enough to be released to float into a crowd (Hartmann).  After the chip adheres to their skin, everything from their heart rates, brain waves, and even what they are saying could be monitored.  Future patches may even include a global positioning system, Wi-Fi access, and eventually even miniature cameras (Hartmann).  If a person were to become chipped with this type of technology, their right to privacy would be violated.

                 Another major issue concerning the epidermal electronic system is the engineering.  Even though EES shows major benefits opposed to electrodes, the body still sees EES as a foreign body.  Challenges with engineering include how the patch adheres to the skin.  The Van der Waals force allows the patch to adhere to the skin in at a molecular level which brings up the concern of toxicity (Koshy).  Many precautions are taken to prevent toxicity; however there may be drawbacks from long term exposure to EES (Koshy).