39. Welcomes the newly signed agreement on a Privacy and Data Protection Impact Assessment Framework for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) applications, which seeks to ensure consumer privacy before RFID tags are introduced onto a given market;

New technologies that will lead us to the ubiquitous information society are already under development; the advent of ground-breaking technologies (such as, high-speed wireless networks, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Devices, sensor networks) and innovative, content-rich services (such as, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), mobile-TV and other mobile services) require adequate levels of network and information security from the very beginning of the development phase, in order to reach real commercial value; the early adoption of the new promising innovations is very important for the deve ...[+++]lopment of the information society and the competitiveness of Europe; governmental bodies and enterprises should adopt as soon as practicable secure, emerging new technologies and services in order to speed up their widespread adoption;

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the Commission has developed Technical Guidelines specifying tests for assessing the performance and reliability of RFID devices that are published on the JRC website as JRC technical standards.

In addition, the International Committee on Animal Recording (ICAR) has developed procedures aimed to verify the compliance of certain RFID characteristics with ISO standards.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standards dealing with aspects of radio frequency identification (RFID) of animals.

It prohibits all commercial activities involving the manufacture, distribution or marketing of smart cards (plastic cards with built-in microprocessors or microchips) and other devices which make it possible to bypass protected access to television, radio and Internet pay services.