Privacy concerns about the use of radio frequency identity (RFID) systems need to be resolved to ensure that the technology is widely accepted and used to its full potential, according to the initial findings of a European Commission (EC) public consultation.

The commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, said that the overriding message from the consultation was that the public still have concerns about RFID privacy issues. At the EU RFID Conference 2006, she outlined various steps to allay these concerns.

These measures include the use of privacy-enhancing technologies, such as clear labelling of tags; and ensuring more transparency over the risks and opportunities of RFID.

“Technologists tell me that many of the privacy concerns are unfounded. Fine. If this is the case then I am sure we can win over public opinion by explaining where there are risks and where there are not,” Reding argued. She added that more than half of respondents wanted the RFID industry governed through legislation rather than self-regulation.

The EC kicked off its RFID debate in March with a series of workshops. It followed this with the launch of an online public consultation in July, aimed at gathering opinions on RFID usage from firms, individuals and other interested parties. The EC plans to use the 2,200 responses to decide how Europe can best benefit from RFID technology and how to tackle the associated security and privacy issues. The feedback also heavily focused on technology standards and interoperability, and on radio frequency allocation.

On the product front, HP announced that it has developed an RFID-based asset tracking solution for datacentres that has been tested at US retailer Meijer.

The technology uses RFID tags and readers to monitor products in datacentres such as servers, network equipment and storage systems, helping firms with their inventory management requirements, said HP. The RFID asset-tracker also tracks new equipment and changes to or movement of devices.

Frank Lanza, worldwide director for HP’s RFID programme, said that for datacentres with thousands of devices, RFID technology can help firms reduce operational and auditing costs, as well as increase security.