At the recent CeBit technology conference in Hanover, Germany, European Commission officials said they plan to undertake a comprehensive study on the use of RFID, according to a March 17 article on TechNews World by Jay Lyman. One of their primary concerns is the need to balance privacy with the need to be globally competitive.
One of the issues facing Europe, that the U.S. currently does not have to contend with, is European laws that govern what information can or cannot be collected on individuals. Therefore in the U.S. the rollout of RFID has been left to industry rather than to the government, according to Cedric Laurant, director of the International Privacy Project. Europeans will have to work within a regulatory framework.
Europe is feeling pressure to boost its efforts to speed the global adoption of RFID from both a product standpoint, as some U.S.-based companies require it and from a security perspective as more companies are using RFID as a security tracking device.
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