Developments In Data Protection Law – New EDPB Guidelines And Opinions

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has recently (re)positioned itself on several controversial topics and published three new guidelines and opinions. Although not legally binding, they do have a significant influence on proceedings before the supervisory authorities and courts.

1. EDPB Revises Guidelines on Application of ePrivacy Directive

On Oct. 16, 2024, the EDPB published the final guidelines 02/2023 on the application of Art. 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC (ePrivacy Directive) to various technical solutions (following the public consultations).

According to Art. 5(3) ePrivacy Directive, with two narrowly defined exceptions, the storage of information or access to information already stored in a user's terminal equipment is only permitted if the user has given prior consent in accordance with the strict standards of the GDPR.