Public Policy Update - June 2007
The latest initiatives on data protection and privacy
2. RFID tags
After a year of consultations, the EU Commission has announced it will develop a strategy to create a legal framework that provides health, data protection and privacy safeguards for citizens with regard to radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. The market for RFID is forecast to rise from €500 million in 2006 to over €7 billion in 2016 and the Commission says it does not wish to over-regulate RFID because of its potential. It proposes to create a stakeholder group that will include representatives from the public and industry as well as scientific and data protection experts to analyse the economic and social impact of RFID. It also suggests amending the e-Privacy Directive to take RFID into account.
Next steps: The Commission will decide by the end of 2008 whether more regulation is needed. Whilst RFID technology is not frequently employed in market research, its use could become more widespread if costs continue to fall. Research companies that plan to incorporate RFID technology in future services should stay abreast of legislative proposals that are being discussed.
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