Brain chip
There were two types of brain chip pico surgery, used by humans circa the year 200,000. The first was a small processing chip implanted at the base of the skull which cost one hundred credits at Satellite Five.
The other was a receptor chip implanted in the forehead which cost a ten thousand credits. Upon activation, the forehead opened up,exposing both the chip and the naked living brain of the implantee.
Once the receptor chip was activated, compressed news information as streamed into the person's brain and they became, in effect, part of the software; their brain being the computer. But the brain only processed the information; it did not retain it following the download of data. In effect, the brain acted as the passive receptacle of information, without memory of the information transmitted.
The implantee had the choice of trigger for activation, however in the case of Adam Mitchell, he had the snapping of his fingers (or that of any person nearby) set at his default for him. This would make Adam's life very miserable indeed. (DW: The Long Game)