Electronic Identity: easy access to public services across the EU

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESS RELEASE

Electronic Identity: easy access to public services across the EU

(30 May 2008)Today, the European Commission unveils a pilot project to ensure cross-border recognition of national electronic identity (eID) systems and enable easy access to public services in 13 Member States. Throughout the EU, some 30 million national eID cards are used by citizens to access a variety of public services such as claiming social security and unemployment benefits or filing tax returns. The Commission's project will enable EU citizens to prove their identity and use national electronic identity systems (passwords, ID cards, PIN codes and others) throughout the EU, not just in their home country. The plan is to align and link these systems without replacing existing ones. The project will run for three years and receive EUR 10 million funding from the European Commission and an equal contribution from the participating partners.

See also: Project factsheet : eID

EDPS Opinion on RFID: major opportunities for Information Society but privacy issues need to be addressed with more ambition

Photo: RFID Tab. Wikipedia

Text source: European Commission Press Release

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) today issued his Opinion on the Commission's communication on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in Europe that was released in March 2007. The Opinion deals with the growing use of RFID chips in consumer products and other new applications affecting individuals.

The EDPS welcomes the Commission's Communication on RFID as it addresses the main issues arising from the deployment of RFID technology while taking account of privacy and data protection considerations. The EDPS agrees with the Commission that it is appropriate in the first phase to leave room for self-regulatory instruments. However, additional legislative measures may be necessary to regulate RFID usage in relation to privacy and data protection.

Peter Hustinx, EDPS, says: "RFID systems could play a key role in the development of the European Information Society but the wide acceptance of RFID technologies should be facilitated by the benefits of consistent data protection safeguards. Self-regulation alone may not be enough to meet the challenge. Legal instruments may therefore be required to guarantee that the technical solutions to minimise the risks for data protection and privacy are in place."

More specifically, the EDPS calls on the Commission to consider the following recommendations:

• the provision of a clear guidance, in close cooperation with relevant stakeholders, on how to apply the current legal framework to the RFID environment;


• the adoption of a Community legislation regulating the main issues of RFID-usage in case the effective implementation of the existing legal framework fails;


• such measures should notably lay down the opt-in principle at the point of sale as a precise and undeniable legal obligation;


• the identification of "Best Available Techniques" which will play a decisive role in the early adoption of the privacy-by-design principle.
  

Privacy Enhacing Technologies

Privacy Enhancing Technologies: How to create a trusted Information Society

21 November 2007 London, UK

On May 2nd the European Commission adopted a Communication "Promoting Data Protection by Privacy enhancing Technologies (PETs)" in which it calls for stepping up research in and development of PETs. In this context, the outcome of this event will be taken into consideration by the European Commission in its formulation of upcoming work programmes for funding calls in this area of the FP7-ICT programme and will influence the direction of future research in the fields of privacy and technology.

RFID tags

Article published at KSTP

Privacy and security need to be built into radio frequency identification tags before they become widespread, the European Commission said, announcing it would publish guidelines later this year.

RFID chips can be used to automatically identify and verify passports, luggage, livestock or pharmaceuticals and have a wide range of potential uses, from telling doctors what medicines patients have been given to instantly pointing out expired food.

Read the full article

RFID Consultation Website

European Commission RFID Website

Commission proposes a European policy strategy for smart radio tags

European Commission Press Release

Exactly one year after launching an extensive Europe-wide public consultation on radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, the Commission has unveiled on 15 March 2007 its proposals for an RFID strategy for Europe. The Commission, in particular, proposes to address the privacy concerns of citizens to boost consumer confidence and Europe's position in a market experiencing 60% growth globally.

(15/03/2007) "From fighting counterfeits to better healthcare, smart RFID-chips offers tremendous opportunities for business and society," said Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding when presenting the Commission's strategy today at CeBIT, the world's largest annual IT fair in Hanover, Germany. "Last year I said here at CeBIT that we should stimulate the use of RFID technology in Europe whilst safeguarding personal data and privacy. The Commission's Europe-wide public consultation in 2006 identified a strong lack of awareness and considerable concern among citizens. The Commission's RFID strategy will therefore seek to raise awareness, stress the absolute need for citizens to decide how their personal data is used and ensure that Europe removes existing obstacles to RFID's enormous potential."

RFID – also called smart radio tags – is a technology which involves tags that emit radio signals as identifiers, and devices that pick up the signal and identify the tags. It has a wide range of applications and does not require direct contact or line-of-sight scanning.

Full press release

Communication : English - French - German

Consultation report

European Commission acts to boost confidence in digital world

A major new drive to fundamentally overhaul core EU consumer rules – including guarantees, refunds, cooling off periods - to adapt them to the challenges of a fast changing digital world has been launched today with the adoption of a European Commission Green Paper reviewing the existing rules. Consumer spending (households and non-profile institutions) accounts for a total of 58% of EU GDP. Consumer confidence is a key factor determining how and when consumers spend their money in different sectors of the economy. All the evidence is that consumers are not yet "comfortable" enough in the digital and online world to seize its full potential. Only tiny fraction - 6% of EU consumers - are currently shopping online cross border. With the help of the feedback from the Green Paper, the Commission aims to boost consumer confidence in the EU Single Market, with a single and simple set of rules which empower consumers to know their rights, make sound choices and ensure adequate protection when things go wrong. Clear legal rules will also incentivise operators, particularly SMEs to venture beyond borders un-tapping the potential for integration for the retail side of the market. The Green Paper invites comments and contains over 28 concrete suggestions (cutting across 8 Directives) for possible new action.

See MEMO/07/48 for details of basic EU consumer rights and the most common

Brussels to fight for EU passenger privacy on US flights

Brussels to fight for EU passenger privacy on US flights
article published at EUoberver By Renata Goldirova


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini has said he will push for a reduction in the amount of air passengers' data provided to the US, amid efforts to update a controversial EU-US data sharing agreement which will expire by the end of July.

The reduction of 34 pieces of passenger records – which Washington considers key to its security programme - "would not harm counter-terrorism efforts", Mr Frattini told the European Parliament in a debate which saw the commissioner grilled by MEPs on Wednesday (31 January).

Mr Frattini underlined the need to strike a balance between the requirements of fighting terrorism and concerns about data protection, saying that "privacy rights are non-negotiable."

His comments were echoed by German minister of State Günther Gloser, speaking on behalf of EU member states.

In around two weeks time Germany - currently holding the EU presidency - is expected to gain a negotiation mandate from EU capitals, which are currently hammering out its final terms.

The formal talks with Washington are expected to kick off in March.

According to Mr Gloser, negotiations will be "extremely torturous", as Washington is "not as interested in data protection" as the 27-nation bloc.

Under the current hard-fought deal, Washington collects 34 pieces of data on each EU traveller, including name, address, phone number, form of payment and credit card details, with airlines being threatened with fines of $6,000 per passenger or withdrawal of landing rights if they fly to the US without providing required information.


Read the full article at EUobserver.com

European Privacy Institute

Source: Cordis News

An initiative has been launched to lobby for a permanent European institute to foster a synthesis between technology and privacy.

The European Privacy Institute Initiative already involves nearly 40 experts - mainly academics but also business associates and an official from the European Commission. Driving the initiative is a desire to examine how values like privacy and ethics can be integrated into future product designs and technologies.

The group points out that a number of global companies, such as IBM, Microsoft and KPMG are conducting research into privacy issues. In Europe, a number of EU-funded projects are doing the same. These include PRIME (Privacy and Identity Management for Europe), FIDIS (Future of Identity in the Information Society), and BITE (Biometric Identification Technology Ethics). Universities around Europe are also carrying out their own research projects.

An Executive Committee has been created to present the idea to the EU institutions. The three Committee members represent a university, the director of a research consortium and the CEO of the European Biometric Forum. A Scientific Advisory Committee has been established to assist the Executive Committee.

Read the full article at Cordis