US pressure over ‘big brother’ technology

EU regulators deciding how to tackle contro­versial ­technology allowing organisations to track and trace individuals or goods will come under strong pressure from the US ­government when they visit Washington DC next month (7-9 ­November). EU citizens’ fears over the potentially ­intrusive ‘big brother’ ­technology could be swept aside as a result.

Concerns about the ­technology, RFID, were ­expressed in a European Commission consultation, the results of which were published on 16 October. Over half of respondents thought legal provisions would be needed to rein in the creeping influence of the powerful technology.

Information Technology Commissioner Viviane Reding has announced that legislative measures will be broached by the end of this year. Keen to protect US companies from compliance with ­potentially strict rules on data processing in the EU, however, the Bush ­administration will be pushing for an open ­approach from the EU.

"There’s a lot of pressure coming from the US, as on PNR and SWIFT," said Tanguy Van Overstraeten, a partner at Linklaters, referring to recent scandals ­involving the transfer of EU passenger airline data (PNR) and financial data (SWIFT) to US authorities. "The Commission tends to have a more relaxed way of looking [at this] than member states." According to Van Overstraeten, the US does not have a specific set of rules on personal data processing.

Robert Cresanti, US ­under secretary of ­commerce for technology, who met Reding this week, believes that companies abusing their power will ­ultimately suffer anyway, without any need for legislation. "If you treat data ­carelessly, it’s 100% clear the market is going to ­punish you," he said.

The Commission will also come under pressure from industry. Software company SAP, which has been rolling out RFID-compatible ­applications for five years, is also keen to see a light touch approach from the Commission. "If we can’t fix this conversation…there will be roadblocks to deploying RFID technology," warned Claus Heinrich, a member of the SAP?executive board.

EU regulators deciding how to tackle contro­versial ­technology allowing organisations to track and trace individuals or goods will come under strong pressure from the US ­government when they visit Washington DC next month (7-9 ­November). EU citizens’ fears over the potentially ­intrusive ‘big brother’ ­technology could be swept aside as a result.