'Small brothers' are watching you - BEUC

If someone told you that your loyalty cards contain RFID chips, would you have any idea what that meant? Many of us do not have a clue as to what lies behind a simple bus ticket, car keys or a ski-pass.. And what if someone told you that burglars soon will not even have to search your handbag to steal your credit card, that all they will have to do is to walk beside you with an RFID reader to get your full name, credit card numbers and expiry date?

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is already part of our lives: a small tag in/on a product contains information making it possible to track and identify each object individually (information on its origin and date of production, or personal data in the case of a credit card). This information is transmitted to a reader via radio signals. Already found in certain products, RFID could come into large-scale use, for all consumer goods for example. While potential advantages are foreseeable in terms of product traceability, what happens once the consumer leaves the shop? 
 
If the consumer goods you buy are RFID-tagged, information on your buying habits can be collected and stored. This obviously stirs unprecedented challenges to data protection and other consumer fundamental rights.
 
We therefore welcome the European Commission's proactive approach in launching yesterday a public consultation on a forthcoming recommendation on RFID:

• We particularly welcome the provisions on  transparency, security and privacy. Indeed, consumers must know when, why and how RFID is being used in their surroundings. The proposed measures, such as visual signs showing the presence  of tags and readers, should result in greater transparency. 
• For retail shopping, the opt-in approach will guarantee that tags  will be automatically deactivated at the point of sale if personal data are likely to be collected, unless the consumer wishes to keep them on. 
• Measures to guarantee the protection of privacy and security must be introduced prior to implementation of the different applications of the RFID technology.

 
A number of crucial questions are however still  open, including the effects on health and the environment and potential problems related to competition, as well as the importance of information campaigns on potential risks. We also have concerns about a possible "discriminatory profiling" of consumers (the collection of data on our buying habits could lead to the exclusion of commercially less "attractive" customers). Finally, these provisions should not take the form of a recommendation, but must be laid down in binding legislation. 
 
Monique Goyens, BEUC Director said: "All new technologies bring their share of advantages and drawbacks. RFID directly affects the very sensitive question of protection of privacy and personal data. Accordingly, all necessary measures must be taken to keep consumers from being relentlessly tracked and profiled."

The European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC) was created in 1962 by the consumer organisations of Belgium, Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. After working together for a number of years, these organisations decided to create a European association, based in Brussels, right at the heart of Community policy. BEUC was a pioneer, one of the first lobbying organisations to set up base in the European capital in a bid to influence the decision-making process.