Packs and Closures

The use of item-level RFID technology in retail will become "economically impossible" if the European Commission adopts proposals for tags to be deactivated automatically at the point of sale, standards body GS1 UK has warned.

David Lyon, EPCglobal business manager at GSI, said the proposals, included in a consultation launched yesterday (21 February), would "curtail" any plans to introduce tags.

The consultation on RFID and privacy, launched by Viviane Reding, the EC's information society and media commissioner, calls for the adoption of an "opt-in" principle, meaning tags would be automatically deactivated unless the consumer wanted to keep them active.

However, Lyon said the EC should instead promote an "opt-out" system, where tags would only be deactivated when requested, and after the point of sale.

He suggested this could be promoted by in-store signage, as has been the case with Marks & Spencer's adoption of RFID on clothing.

"If there is anything other than an opt-out system after the point of sale, it will kill a potentially competitive and useful technology in retail," he said. "There are a lot of jobs at stake if this goes ahead."

The consultation is open until 25 April and the EC hopes to adopt the proposals by summer.

It also proposes that RFID application operators should adopt a common logo to indicate to consumers where tags are present in retail products.

The consultation says retailers should provide "easily accessible" facilities so tags can be deactivated and removed at the point of sale, even if the RFID application does not involve processing of personal data and privacy is unlikely to be affected.

Before an RFID application is implemented, operators should conduct a privacy impact assessment to see if it could affect personal data protection, it has added.

Click here for more from the EC.