Consumer privacy and data protection must be addressed in RFID Recommendation

The long-awaited Recommendation on Radio-frequency identification (RFID), focusing on privacy and data protection, is expected to be adopted today by the European Commission. BEUC, the European Consumers’ Organisation, believes this is an important first step towards finally addressing some of the core consumer concerns linked to RFID.

RFID technology is a remote technology allowing data to be exchanged, accessed and read at a distance. RFID is becoming ever more present in our daily lives, in our transport passes, store and library cards, highway express toll passes or ski passes, allowing objects to be traced and consequently consumers' movements and activities to be tracked. 
 
For consumers to reap the benefits of RFID without compromising their privacy and security, BEUC hopes that the Recommendation will foresee:
 
-  Transparency: An EU-wide symbol to inform consumers about when RFID is in use, by signaling the presence of readers and of RFID tags on products.
 
-  Privacy:  Ensuring that whenever there could be a likely risk to consumer privacy, the retailer must deactivate or remove the tag  immediately and free of charge - unless the consumer explicitly asks for the tag to remain operational ('opt-in approach'). This was highlighted by Commissioner Reding last week.
 
-  Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA), whereby the risk to consumer privacy of an RFID application is assessed, must be mandatory, meet the highest standards in technical proficiency and be subject to scrutiny from data protection authorities. 
 
Monique Goyens, BEUC Director General stated: "This Recommendation on RFID should give out a strong signal that the Commission is taking data protection and privacy seriously as a consumer concern. However, other important consumer aspects linked to RFID should also be addressed such
as the possible impacts on health and on the environment."

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.