German Data Protection Officer Peter Schaar is calling on companies who sell goods with RFID stickers to develop clear guidelines for the labeling and handling of this technology.


In an interview with the daily Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, he stated that the industry has already promised to institute labeling though it has failed to make good on this promise even though a growing number of goods have such stickers.


RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips store product information that can be read via radio waves. If a purchase is made with an EC card, this information can be linked to the buyer's personal data and used to create customer profiles, for instance.



Schaar is therefore calling on the industry to develop a code of conduct to specify how this technology will be used and what possibilities will be exploited. This "good-faith policy" could be reviewed and enforced with penalties if need be, he told the paper. But he thinks the industry is not alone in needing to do more for data protection:

"When it comes to state authority, improvements are made quickly, but everything moves more slowly when it comes to citizens' rights."

Source: Heise Online


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