INFORMATION SOCIETY : COMMISSION LAUNCHES PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON RFID.

The consumer must have the choice of using the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) microchips or not, according to the European Commission. It launched a consultation on this subject, which continues from 21 February until 25 April. Its goal is to publish before the summer a (non-binding) recommendation on the risks for privacy and data protection which the use of these intelligent labels' - currently flooding the consumer goods market - could raise.

For the Commission, the success of the RFID technology in Europe is linked to the protection of consumers' data. It has already published a draft recommendation, and recommends, unless the consumer decides otherwise, automatic deactivation at the checkout when an RFID application processes personal data or when the impact assessment, carried out beforehand by the industry, reveals a "strong probability" that private data could be produced.

For other data (the temperature of milk, for example), the retailer must supply the...

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