On 11 April the European Commission launched a consultation which aims to seek stakeholders’ views on the current text of the ePrivacy Directive as well as the possible changes to the existing legal framework to make sure it is up to date with the new challenges of the digital area. The consultation is open until 5 July 2016.
The questionnaire for the public consultation can be accessed here. The background to the consultation is set out in a paper available here.
The purpose of this consultation is said to be twofold. First, it aims to gather input for the Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT) evaluation of the ePD. Second, it seeks views on possible changes to the current ePrivacy Directive.
The Commission will use the feedback from the consultation to prepare a new legislative proposal on ePrivacy, which is expected by the end of 2016.
The review of the ePrivacy Directive is partly the result of th effects of the GDPR but changes in technology since 2009 also affect matters. The Commission state that several policy issues have already emerged as potentially needing to be addressed in the review and are highlighted for the public consultation. The Commission states that these include ensuring consistency of ePrivacy rules with the GDPR, updating the scope of the ePD in light of the new market and technological reality, enhancing security and confidentiality of communications, addressing inconsistent enforcement and fragmentation at national level.
