Overview Of The Proposed EU Eprivacy Regulation

In January 2017, the European Commission published its proposal for an ePrivacy Regulation ("ePR") to replace the existing ePrivacy Directive (Directive 2002/58/EC). The draft ePR is currently working its way through the EU legislative process. Below we set out a summary of the key points of the most recent draft of the ePR, published in October 2017:

TIMING

While the ePR was initially intended to come into force simultaneously with the GDPR, it is more likely that the ePR will be finalised in 2018 and enter force in late 2018 or early 2019.

SCOPE

The ePR will apply to all providers of electronic communications services, including so-called 'over-the- top' or OTT internet-based services (e.g. web-based email, voice-over IP and online messaging apps). Data- emitting connected devices will also be regulated by the ePR.