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Sydney Man Inserts Transport Card Chip Into His Skin

Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow never has to worry about losing his card again.
ABC NEWS

SYDNEY -- A Sydney bio-hacker has had the chip from his Opal card implanted into his arm, allowing him to tap on and off the city's public transport system with just the wave of his hand.

Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow -- yes, that's his real name -- had the near-field communication (NFC) chip cut down and encased in bio-compatible plastic before having it implanted beneath the skin of his left hand, the ABC reported.

"It gives me an ability that not everyone else has, so if someone stole my wallet I could still get home," Meow-Meow told the ABC.

While Meow-Meow warned others not to follow his lead without being aware of the risks involved, he said that putting "technology into the body is not unusual".

A Transport for NSW spokesperson however told HuffPost Australia that it does not support the tampering of Opal Cards, which breaches their terms of use -- so it looks like Meow-Meow's efforts could have been for nothing.

"In addition, changing the physical attributes of the card may impact the reliability of the Opal card," the spokesperson said.

"Customers that are caught tampering with their Opal card may have their card cancelled."

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