Volume 5 Issue 1

Smart Cards, Privacy Issues

Kevin O'Connor*

This paper aims to canvass some preliminary issues and to stimulate discussion on the implications for personal privacy of the development and use of 'smart cards'. It addresses international developments in the technology and policy responses to it, the range of possible applications, the concerns they raise in terms of the OECD's privacy principles, which underpin the principles in the Commonwealth Privacy Act, and the desirability of paying timely policy attention to the technology. It includes a suggested approach to addressing privacy issues through the development of system protocols allowing assessment of the privacy implications of a smart card system and measures that may be taken to address them.

* Privacy Commissioner