BAKGRUNN (fra Kommisjonens arbeidsdokument, engelsk utgave)

The phrase "Internet of Things" heralds a vision of the future Internet where connecting physical things, from banknotes to bicycles, through a network will let them take an active part in the Internet, exchanging information about themselves and their surroundings. This will give immediate access to information about the physical world and the objects in it – leading to innovative services and gains in efficiency and productivity. The productivity and efficiency improvements rendered possible by this Internet of Things and the services it will convey will definitely contribute to improvements in European living standards. So citizens and society will benefit. But there are also important policy issues, especially in the areas of privacy and data protection.

The Internet of Things lies in the future. But RFID, one of its key technologies, is already being deployed. Policy issues related to RFID, which must be tackled now, should give insights into the wider policy issues which the Internet of Things will bring. Section three of this document describes RFID based developments and the policy challenges they raise.