EU Commission starts revision of e-privacy Directive

The European Commission launched, on 12 April, a public consultation on the revision of the e-Privacy Directive. It is expected that the Commission will issue a legislative proposal on e-privacy by the end of this year.

The Consultation consists of two parts. The first part gathers views on how the current e-privacy regime is working. The second half encourages organisations to submit their views on possible changes to the law.

The Commission says the following areas are of particular importance:
1. Ensuring consistency with the General Data Protection Regulation
2. Addressing inconsistencies in the current implementation of the e-privacy Directive
3. Taking into consideration new market and technological realities, such as the question of whether Voice over IP and instant messaging providers should be subject to ePrivacy requirements
4. Enhancing security and confidentiality of communications.

The consultation runs until 5 July 2016.