Cookies Crumble? The draft EU Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications

The European Commission recently published a proposed Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications (the "Regulation"). The Regulation aims to update and broaden the scope of current rules under the ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC) on confidentiality of electronic communications as well as align the rules for electronic communications, cookie usage and direct marketing with the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR").

In line with the GDPR, penalties for infringement may be severe, with fines for infringement of the cookies and unsolicited communication rules potentially amounting to the greater of €10 million or up to 2% of the worldwide annual revenue. Infringements of the rules relating to confidentiality of content and metadata may be higher, with fines capped at the greater of €20 million or up to 4% of the worldwide annual revenue.