(2004/C 33 E/129)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1532/03

by Michael Cashman (PSE) to the Commission

(30 April 2003)

Subject:   New technology and privacy and freedoms

Is the Commission aware that there is currently new technology being developed which allegedly has serious implications for citizens' privacy, employment, freedom, independence and choice? The technology involves embedding a chip into every new personal computer, so that hardware, software and applications will only work if they are on an authorised list which is centrally owned and managed.

Is the Commission concerned that small companies would be prevented from registering their products on the list as the costs would be too high (around EUR 91 000), and what action is the Commission considering to limit this situation?

Can the Commission outline what measures are being taken to limit the impact on the European software development industry?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(10 June 2003)

The Commission follows closely the technological and market developments in the Information Society. The legal framework in the Union for matters of data protection is the Directive 95/46/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (1).

Several market players develop technologies that could potentially have a significant impact in the way that users interact in the information society. Their influence in society is very much dependant upon the specific features of each application and upon their commercial and business success. Experience with a number of technologies shows that it is difficult to predict the direction that the market and the technological drivers behind it may eventually take.

The development of technologies based on embedded chips is not a new phenomenon. It has been tried in the past by industry players. Similar efforts have also been made concerning the unique identification of software and content-related material running on PCs. These technological measures have been more or less successful.

The introduction of such technologies may have both positive and negative policy implications. For example, systems that allow the identification of computers may facilitate the more effective roll-out of Digital Rights Management systems or help combat piracy and cybercrime or increase the level of information security, but may also be infringing privacy rights or raising competition issues.

The Commission is presently looking at the data protection implications of some of these technologies together with the Article 29 Working Party and it is expected that some documents regarding these matters will be issued in the second half of 2003.

The Commission is active in supporting the development of so-called Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs), through several activities, including among others those of the Joint Research Centre and the IST Programme. The incorporation of PETs into privacy strategies receives its encouragement from Articles 6 and 17 of the above-mentioned Data Protection Directive, which require data controllers to minimise the data collection and to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, specially in network transmissions. The importance of privacy enhancing technologies has also been emphasised by the Member of the Commission responsible for the Internal Market as one of the messages arising from the international conference on the implementation of the Data Protection Directive held last autumn 2002 in Brussels.

The Commission favours a balanced and proportionate approach based upon the problems that the technologies aim to solve, the measures they use to achieve that objective and the impact that these measures have on users, industry and society as a whole.

The potential impact of any new developing technologies on European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or in the state of competition in the Single Market is and will be closely scrutinised by the competent Commission services. The Commission will decide on any measures to be taken after this scrutiny is completed.

(1)  OJ L 281, 23.11.1995.