Do delegations agree to add legitimate interest as one of the legal bases for derogating from the principle of consent when processing the content of an online communication? It is to this question that the Presidency of the EU Council would like answers before 10 March, with a view to two further working meetings on 12 and 19 March.
The Croatian Presidency has also circulated a new compromise document, the second since it took over the EU Council Presidency, on this proposal on the confidentiality of electronic communications. This proposal, presented in 2017, aims ultimately to update and replace the current e-Privacy Directive to cover call or instant messaging services such as WhatsApp (see EUROPE 11700/1).
The new compromise document incorporates the changes already proposed on 21 February, including the addition of a new legal basis for legitimate interest. At the request of several delegations, Zagreb refers to this concept, which exists in the General Data Protection Regulation, on the one hand, to enable the content of a communication to be processed (Article 6) and, on the other hand, to use the storage and processing capacity of a device (Article 8) without the user's consent.
In this new consolidated text, the Presidency also adds changes on scope and new technologies. It maintains the original concept that machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things transmissions are covered by the draft Regulation if the communications are carried out in an open network. It also clarifies that providers of machine-to-machine or Internet of Things services are, like their customers, end-users and must therefore benefit from the protection of their communication data.
The Croatian Presidency indicates that it will organise a discussion on 12 March in a working party on telecommunications which will most probably continue on 19 March. The Presidency will decide on the precise agenda on the basis of the outcome of the meeting on 12 March, notes the document. See the document: http://bit.ly/3cLPoiL (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)