November 12, 2007
Following on from the EC’s 4-month Europe-wide consultation on 9 March 2006, the EC published the results on 15 March 2007 in a communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. For further details on this communication see: European Concerns Over RFID Technology.
The European Economic and Social Committee (“EESC”) published its opinion to the EU’s communication (see attached pdf). The EESC endorses the EC’s proposed actions in the domains of radio spectrum, standards, health, safety and environment but has focused its opinion on the threats RFID technology poses to privacy and civil liberties. The EESC recommends (amongst other things) that customers should be free to remove or disable any RFID tags on items in their possession and that RFID should never be used in a way which could eliminate or reduce anonymity.