Brussels, 12/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption on Tuesday 12 May of recommendations on the use of smart chips, the Commission plans to promote control of these micro-electronic devices to ensure respect of private life and personal data protection. Thanks to these smart chips, everyday objects can connect to a network and exchange information. A refrigerator can inform its owner that the milk is beyond its use-by date, and food packing can warn against possible risks of allergy, etc. Although the development of such technology presents promising economic potential, it also raises questions regarding the information contained in the smart chips, and the use made of that information.
In a press release, Viviane Reding, Commissioner for the Information Society and Media, underlines the fact that “European consumers must be confident that if and when their personal data is involved, their privacy will be impregnable also in a changing technological environment”. Hence the series of “very firm” recommendations to the designers or operators of smart chip technologies. “The Commission therefore wants radio frequency identification (RFID) to empower consumers to control their data security”, Ms Reding stresses. With RFID, smart chips can process data automatically when brought close to the “readers” that activate them, pick up their radio signal and exchange data with them.
According to the principles set out in the guidelines: - consumers should be able to control the products they buy. When a product contains a smart chip, this should be deactivated automatically, immediately and free of charge at the point of sale, unless the consumer explicitly asks to keep the chip operational; - companies or public authorities using smart chips should give consumers clear and simple information so that they understand if their personal data will be used, the type of data collected (such as name, address or date of birth) and for what purpose; - retail associations and organisations should promote consumer awareness on products containing smart chips through a common European sign to indicate whenever a smart chip is used by a product; - and companies and public authorities should conduct privacy and data protection impact assessments before using smart chips. Member states now have two years in which to attain the goals set out in the recommendation. According to estimates, the global smart chip market was worth €4 billion in 2008 and should be close to €20 billion in 2018. Europe is expected to account for 35% of the global RFID tag market in the next eight years. (A.B./transl.jl)