RFID: Brussels may yet reach for red tape

The European Commission may have decided against imposing new rules on RFID tags for now but a top official has warned regulations are likely if future uses of the technology don't protect fundamental privacy rights.

Gerald Santucci, head of the European Commission unit whose domain includes RFID issues, said he feared rushing to place restrictions on industries hoping to use the technology would choke its potentially valuable application in healthcare, business, transportation and other realms.

But if regulators deem widespread RFID use is insufficiently safe, secure and privacy-preserving, then "[EC information society and media commissioner Viviane] Reding will have no other option but to trigger legislation", Santucci said, speaking in Washington.

He was referring to a recent announcement by Reding that, instead of issuing regulations, the Commission plans to develop a set of guidelines - a "soft law" by Santucci's characterisation - by the end of the year to lay out its expectations on issues such as privacy and security.

To get there, it plans to consult over the next few months with a to-be-named group of 25 to 30 people representing all facets of the RFID debate.

By the close of 2008, the Commission plans to re-evaluate whether legislation is necessary. It's unclear how restrictive any potential rules would be.

That option is preferable for now because it typically takes as many as three years for new laws to gain final passage at the Commission, and by then, RFID-specific rules may already be out of date, Santucci said. He indicated that even if the EC does decide it needs to enact new laws, they would cover more than just RFID.

He attributed what he called a "problem of trust" to a lack of understanding about how RFID tech works. He suggested governments and industry worldwide should build privacy protections into their RFID use but said they must also present a unified message about "why RFID is something that can add a lot to improve [citizens'] quality of life."

Anne Broache writes for CNET News.com