04 April 2006

Eversheds

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Commission Raises RFID Concerns

We have reported in past e80s on the increasing use of RFID technology (radio frequency identification), the benefits it brings to manufacturers / retailers and the privacy issues that also arise.

The European Commission has now announced that new legislation may be required within the European Union to regulate the widespread use of RFID tags.

The Commission's concerns stem from the increasingly widespread use of RFID technology. Radio tags can be used by retailers and manufacturers to store information on purchase history to produce inventories which allow companies to trace the full history of consumer products. They are also used to authenticate personal information in national identity documents. Two particular areas of concern which have been recognised in relation to this practice are:-

(1) A common criticism about the use of RFID technology in the consumer arena is its potential to invade the privacy of the ordinary citizen by recording which goods they purchase and where. The protection of electronic personal information is already the subject of a recent E.C Privacy Directive and there are concerns that this may need to be updated if any inquiry considers RFID a possible threat.

(2) Laws allowing the free movement of goods could be affected if RFID technology used in goods from one EU state is incompatible with RFID technology in another. This would prevent supermarkets tracking their inventories and may require technology harmonisation legislation to be introduced to regulate the problem.

In response the Commission has launched a public consultation which shall continue until June and which will involve discussions with governments and industry groups worldwide in order to try and come up with a set of operating standards for RFID that could exist in Europe and potentially worldwide.

The results of the consultation are due to be published in September.

For further information on the impact of RFID contact angelakindness@eversheds.com.

Angela Kindness Solicitor Direct Dial: +44 (0) 115 841 7693 

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