Is society smart enough to deal with smart cards?

This article discusses the legal issues surrounding the development of RFID enabled smart cards. Smart cards can transform the delivery of services and goods, through the automated identification and verification of customers, resulting in significant efficiency gains and ultimately lower costs for consumers. Smart cards have the potential to seriously undermine the human right to privacy. They may greatly facilitate the surreptitious collection of personal data. The privacy of consumers may be violated which will seriously undermine user confidence in the trustworthiness of commercial organisations and state institutions alike. Solutions to the privacy problem must be holistic, and encompass responses from a range of stakeholders. Where possible, the design of the smart card technology must be privacy promoting. In cases where this is not possible, deployment of smart card technology must be accompanied by the effective enforcement of privacy legislation, voluntary self and co-regulation, codes of conduct and technological tools.