Living Privacy Guidance for a Developing Technology

Besides the strict privacy regulations that are part of EPC licence agreements, EPCglobal subscribers have adopted self-regulating guidelines which can evolve as RFID technology develops.

These address privacy issues and are called Guidelines on EPC for Consumer Products. The guidelines are reviewed periodically.

Guidelines on the EPC for consumer products

The guidelines inform you that you will be given clear notice of the presence of an EPC on products or their packaging. Consumers will also be informed of the choices available: you can either discard, remove, or, in future, disable EPC-based RFID tags.

Many EPCglobal subscribers are going to great lengths to help consumers understand that they not only comply with EPCglobal’s high standards but with all the comprehensive data protection guidelines of the European Union.

Working together for responsible RFID use

The European Union and governments around the world are working with consumers, industry and data protection organisations to ensure that your personal privacy is not breached by RFID. For instance, the European Union held consultations on RFID privacy questions over a period of several months and produced a report stating that it did not believe additional data protection laws were necessary, given the stringent requirements already in place. Instead, the European Commission will create a stakeholders group to advise the EU on RFID strategy. EPCglobal is an active member of this stakeholders (expert) group.