EU Council of Ministers publish a revised ePrivacy Regulation text

The EU Council of Ministers have published their latest text for the revised ePrivacy Regulation.

While the EU Parliament agreed its position back in 2017, although a narrow and contentious vote, the Council have been making slower progress. This is because national governments have serious concerns with the proposed ePrivacy Regulation.

The fact progress has been slower in the Council is a positive for the marketing industry. The Council are beginning to address some of the major concerns the DMA had with the text that would negatively impact the marketing sector in the EU.

For example, the latest text differentiates between direct and display marketing. Previous versions of the text had included display advertising within the definition of direct marketing.

However, this is not correct as direct marketing needs to be targeted at a specific individual, while display advertising could be a billboard and anyone who walks past happens to view it. It is not directed at a specific person.

The last version of the Council text included the possibility for Member States to impose a time limit of 12 months after the purchase for the existing customer soft opt-in to be valid.

The latest text has removed this deadline and instead gives each EU member state the chance to impose a time limit. This is an improvement but an arbitrary time limit should not be imposed at all as a products lifecycle should be taken into account, among other factors.

The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have requested feedback from the DMA on a number of articles and recitals currently being debated within the Council.

You can read the questions from DCMS here and the revised text here.

If you have any comments can please email them to our external affairs manager, Zach Thornton, via email Zach.Thornton@dma.org.uk

Submit your comments by close of play 8 May 2018.