RFID in Europe

Still remember RFID? Radio Frequency Identification. Here is a story on the application of RFID in Europe which comes together with the concern for privacy issues.

Issue:

Europe is feeling pressure to boost its efforts to speed the global adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID), a wireless technology already used by U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart for much of its merchandise and shipping operations. It is used not only commercially in the U.S., but is also an important part of some new passports in America.

The European government and industry leaders stressed the need to balance privacy and the potential for misuse with the need to adopt RFID across industry to be competitive in the world.

While Europe lags behind the U.S. in terms of its embrace of RFID -- a worrisome technology to privacy watchdogs -- the U.S. is not speeding through its RFID adoption either

RFID will become increasingly important in terms of security and being able to keep track of shipping.

Main challenge:

The main difference between the U.S. and Europe on the matter of RFID and privacy is that European law already governs what information can or cannot be collected on individuals

More reading here (www.ecommercetimes.com)