Earlier this year, my employer enhanced security measures in our building. The stricter rules mean I now have to swipe an access key in the elevator to navigate most of the floors.

Forget the key, and users find themselves automatically shuttled to the first-floor security desk. (That is, unless, a responsible co-worker who is actually wearing an access key, as company policy deems, is nearby.)

Full disclosure: I'm pretty delinquent when it comes to carrying my access key during work hours.

One possible solution for forgetful employees like me (albeit a somewhat creepy one) comes from two workers in Ohio who recently had access cards embedded in their forearms.

The employees at CityWatcher.com, a company that provides security cameras and surveillance services, volunteered to test the radio frequency identification chips, according to a report from The Associated Press.

The chips act as access cards to vaults where police departments' information and photographs are kept, says the company's chief executive. A physician implanted the chip, about the size of a grain of rice, underneath the skin.

The company adds that the chips do not serve as employee tracking devices.

But the whole situation sounds like a slippery slope.

"I don't think there's anything in the law right now to prevent private employers from saying that we're going to track employees with this kind of technology," said Paige Fiedler, of Fiedler and Newkirk PLC. "There's something really invasive, physically, saying that something has to be implanted in your skin. It's just so personal."

Fiedler said that with this technology, a company hypothetically could keep tabs on a worker's personal business. For instance, to see if he or she is complying with rules about smoking in a designated area.

On a broader scale, Fiedler sees the implants as a potential portal of entry by the government into worker activities. She said businesses might feel compelled to assist the government in "spying on Americans."

There are a variety of liability issues to worry about, said Joanne Webster, a member of the Society for Human Resource Management's national expertise panel for employee relations.

One concern includes the potential for medical error when these chips are being implanted, Webster said.

The other issue: "Is the employer going to require that employees have these chips implanted as a condition of employment?" she asked.

"It's not something that I would advocate," she said. "There would have to be a very serious, high-risk security kind of situation. I don't see this kind of practice suddenly proliferating."

Dawn Sagario writes for the Des Moines (Iowa) Register.