Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On July 30, 2014, the European Commission announced two new EU standards to help users of Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) smart chips and systems comply with both EU data protection requirements and the European Commission’s 2009 Recommendation on RFID. Among other suggestions, the Recommendation discussed the development of a common European symbol or logo to indicate whether a product uses a smart chip. One of the new standards will provide companies with a framework for the design and display of such a logo. The logo will inform consumers of the presence of RFID chips (for example, when using electronic travel passes or purchasing items with RFID tags). The Commission reiterated that such smart chips should be deactivated by default immediately, and free of charge, at the point of sale.

The second standard (on the privacy impact assessment process) will help RFID application developers and retailers using RFID technology to improve stock management and prevent theft, and assist other RFID application users in complying with EU data protection law. In particular, it will allow RFID application developers to implement “data protection by design.”