Mozilla just released our recommendations to EU policy makers to support and inform negotiations on the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications (ePrivacy Regulation).

Protecting user privacy is core to our mission and all of our work at Mozilla. The European Union has been and continues to be a world leader on user privacy, and the norms set in Brussels can have global impact. We need positive steps forward with legislation and regulation that could deliver benefits for years to come, but at the same time, we need to be careful to not create overly prescriptive rules that don’t account for the rapid pace of technology.

The recommendations we offer address the areas of the Regulation which are most closely related to our products and our mission, including the storage and erasure of data, the protection of information on the terminal device, tracking, privacy settings, government access to communications, and encryption (Articles 7-11).

We look forward to continue working with the Parliament, the Commission, and the Council, by sharing our views and experiences with investing in privacy online. We hope that the Regulation will contribute to a more privacy respecting communications ecosystem, one that offers meaningful control, transparency, and choice to individuals, and helps to rebuild trust online.