Updates on developments in data privacy and cybersecurity
According to a leaked draft, on November 4, 2021, the Council of the European Union (“Council”) and the European Parliament (“Parliament”) agreed a number of amendments to the following three chapters of the draft ePrivacy Regulation, which will replace the ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC and has been pending since January 2017):
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The EU’s ePrivacy Regulation, like the EU GDPR, has been highly anticipated since it was first proposed in 2017. What are the current developments and next steps in the process to enactment? What are some of the complicating factors of the proposed Regulation? Are there major differences between the initial proposal and where the text…
On January 12, 2021, the German Ministry for the Economy and Energy released a new draft Law on Data Protection and the Protection of Privacy in Telecommunications and Telemedia (“TTDSG” or “draft law”). If enacted, the draft law will replace the existing data protection and privacy provisions of Germany’s Telemedia Act and Telecommunications Act (“Telemedia Act”), including provisions applicable to the use of cookies and similar technologies. The draft text was subject to public consultation from its publication until January 22, 2021, and responses submitted during that period will now be considered by the German Federal Government in advance of a formal proposal for the Federal Parliament to consider.
Continue Reading Germany Publishes New Draft Rules for Cookies and Similar Technologies
On January 5, 2021, the Council of the European Union released a new, draft version of the ePrivacy Regulation, which is meant to replace the ePrivacy Directive. The European Commission approved a first draft of the ePrivacy Regulation in January 2017. The draft regulation has since then been under discussion in the Council.
On January 1, 2021, Portugal took over the presidency of the Council for six months. Ahead of the next meeting of the Council’s working party responsible for the draft ePrivacy Regulation, the Portuguese Presidency issued a revised version of the draft regulation. This is the 14th draft version of the ePrivacy Regulation (including the European Commission’s first draft).
Once approved, the ePrivacy Regulation will set out requirements and limitations for publicly available electronic communications service providers (“service providers”) processing data of, or accessing devices belonging to, natural and legal persons “who are in the [European] Union” (“end-user”). The regulation aims to safeguard the privacy of the end-users, the confidentiality of their communications, and the integrity of their devices. These requirements and limitations will apply uniformly in all EU Member States. However, EU Member States have the power to restrict the scope of these requirements and limitations where this is a “necessary, appropriate and proportionate measure in a democratic society to safeguard one or more of the general public interests.”
Continue Reading Council of the EU Released a (New) Draft of the ePrivacy Regulation
On December 17, 2019, the Belgian Supervisory Authority (“SA”) imposed a fine of € 15,000 on an SME operating a legal information website that welcomes approximately 35,000 unique visitors a month. Interestingly, in the apparent absence of any actual complaints submitted to the SA, it carried out this enforcement action on its own initiative.
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On December 3, 2019, the EU’s new Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, suggested a change of approach to the proposed e-Privacy Regulation may be necessary. At a meeting of the Telecoms Council, Breton indicated that the Commission would likely develop a new proposal, following the Council’s rejection of a compromise text on November 27.
The proposed Regulation is intended as a replacement to the existing e-Privacy Directive, which sets out specific rules for traditional telecoms companies, in particular requiring that they keep communications data confidential and free from interference (e.g., preventing wiretapping). It also sets out rules that apply regardless of whether a company provides telecoms services, including restrictions on unsolicited direct marketing and on accessing or storing information on users’ devices (e.g., through the use of cookies and other tracking technologies).Continue Reading New E-Privacy Proposal on the Horizon?
The Council of EU Member States – one of the two main EU lawmaking bodies – recently released a new draft version of the ePrivacy Regulation (“EPR”). Negotiations on the regulation have been deadlocked for a while, but seem to be gathering new momentum under the Finnish Presidency. Below we highlight some selected topics that…
Back in 2013, we published a blog post entitled, “European Regulators and the Eternal Cookie Debate” about what constitutes “consent” for purposes of complying with the EU’s cookie rules. The debate continues… Yesterday, the ICO published new guidance on the use of cookies and a related “myth-busting” blog post. Some of the…
On June 28, 2019, the French Supervisory Authority (CNIL) announced that it will issue new guidelines on the use of cookies for direct marketing purposes. It will issue these guidelines in two phases.
First, during July 2019, the CNIL will update its guidance issued in 2013 on cookies. According to the CNIL, the 2013 guidance…
On January 12, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas closed its doors for another year. Each CES raises a new set of technology themes, ranging from robots to smart fridges — and this year, the winner was voice technologies. Such technologies, while not entirely new, are now becoming mainstream: sales of smart…
