On 19 October, the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) voted on the proposed e-Privacy Regulation. The Committee voted in favour of measures defending privacy, security and competition for phone and internet services.

Despite a huge lobbying effort to water down the proposal, the Committee voted for clear, privacy-friendly rules. We welcome this approach, as it will not just protect citizens, but promote competition and innovation as well,

said Joe McNamee, Executive Director of European Digital Rights (EDRi).

Currently, when people surf the internet, use apps on their mobile phone or use connected devices, they are monitored, tracked and profiled. The massive amounts of data that are generated create privacy risks, security risks, economic risks and, as we have seen recently, risks for democracy itself.

EDRi believes that clear rules, based on consent and transparency will help move us away from a dysfunctional market that undermines trust and security. This means clear rules for privacy by default for our hardware and software, it means protection of the content of our communications and the metadata generated by our phone calls and electronic messages.

The European Union is revising its legislation on data protection, privacy and confidentiality of communications in the electronic communications environment: the e-Privacy Regulation. This piece of legislation contains specific rules related to your freedoms in the online environment. It has been under review since 2016, after the adoption of the new General Data Protection Regulation.

Once the Parliament formally terminates this part of the legislative process, the next stage will be negotiations with the EU Member States in the Council.

Read more:

e-Privacy Directive: Frequently Asked Questions

https://edri.org/epd-faq/

e-Privacy revision: Document pool

https://edri.org/eprivacy-directive-document-pool/

Quick guide on the proposal of an e-Privacy Regulation (09.03.2017)

https://edri.org/files/epd-revision/ePR_EDRi_quickguide_20170309.pdf

Dear MEPs: We need you to protect our privacy online! (05.10.2017)

https://edri.org/dear-meps-we-need-you-to-protect-our-privacy-online/