Chillin'Competition

The promising RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology – also known as the “Internet of things” – generates challenges for the protection of privacy and personal information in allowing the collection of data which may be connected, directly or indirectly, to natural persons. To alleviate those concerns, the European Commission adopted on 12 May 2009 a Recommendation concerning RFID and data protection.

The purpose of the present dissertation is to provide a first assessment of the legal framework applicable to RFID. It questions, amongst others, whether the choice of a mere Recommendation, as opposed to a stronger regulatory instrument, is appropriate. It also seeks to determine whether the recommendation addresses exhaustively the very many areas of concerns identified by the stakeholders.

To this end, this dissertation is divided into three parts. Part I comes back on the process which led to the adoption of the recommendation and clarifies the views and concerns expressed at this stage. Par II offers an analysis of the current regulatory framework, which spans the Recommendation as well as various directives and other relevant principles. Finally, Part III provides a personal, critical, assessment of the Recommendation.