This object is the first version of the Bio Key Kit, released in 2035. It was created by an Australian company, Bio Key Industries, which in 2029 won the Australian Federal Government contract to make Bio Keys available to all Australians by the commencement of the 2040 financial year. 

 

Bio Keys were designed to enable a citizen to store and access the entirety of the data that they used on a day-to-day basis – including identity documents, transactions, keys to their home, logins and travel tickets  – all in one place. These items were tied to each citizen’s DNA, making “identity theft impossible”, according to the company, “because only you have your DNA”. 

 

The purpose of the Bio Key Kit was to enable officials to implant a Bio Key directly into a person’s body, and was equipped with hospital-grade neural pain maskers, that were guaranteed to be 100% effective in blocking any pain associated with implantation. It was each citizen’s choice whether they opted to implant the Bio Key, which was made available to every permanent resident of Australia. 

 

The Bio Key did away with the old-fashioned method of using physical identification documents and eliminated the lengthy processes associated with obtaining physical documents. This allowed people the freedom to move at a moment’s notice, unburdened by the need to carry physical documents with them. So for instance, during the horrific bushfires of 2043, which affected large swathes of northern and southwestern Sydney, hundreds of thousands of Sydneysiders were able to quickly leave their homes secure in the knowledge that they had all of their important documents within them (literally) wherever they went.