Tag technology plagued by privacy fears

Tag technology is set to become a major issue later this year, when Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding announces plans on how to tackle privacy concerns associated with the use of increasingly ubiquitous tracking devices.

Citizens’ worries were revealed last month when the results of a European Commission consultation on the subject were published. More than half of respondents thought legal provisions would be needed to check the growing influence of the powerful technology, known as RFID (radio frequency identification), which can be used to track products, animals and people. Decade-old EU privacy rules are deemed inappropriate for tackling the technology.

Reding says: "Regulating RFID must be handled with great care. At such an early stage of a new technology, it is difficult to know what the right regulations should be. Most experts acknowledge that RFID needs some breathing space to evolve, and we have to learn about its impact through observation, experience, and discussion. We need to let the RFID industry demonstrate its advantages to citizens."

The RFID market is expected to reach €20.8 billion in 2016, almost ten times its current value. Experts predict that we will soon be surrounded by an ‘internet of things’ consisting of tagged objects and people.

"The basic concept behind RFID is really simple. It’s about how people can get information to make better decisions," says Claus Heinrich, a member of the executive board at software company SAP, which has been producing RFID-enabled products for the past five years. SAP wants the Commission to resist pressure to introduce restrictive privacy regulations. "I’d like to see things de-emotionalised, to see more sense instead of fear," says Heinrich.

Tag technology is set to become a major issue later this year, when Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding announces plans on how to tackle privacy concerns associated with the use of increasingly ubiquitous tracking devices.