The EU Council is ready to enter into negotiations on the proposal for an Interim Regulation allowing online communication services to derogate from the privacy rules contained in the e-Privacy Directive. The EU Council’s Committee of Permanent Representatives adopted its general approach on Wednesday 28 October.
All eyes are now on the European Parliament, which has yet to give its opinion on this text, which is intended to counter the effects of the new electronic communications code. Presented on 10 September by the Commission, it should enable providers of online communication services to continue to detect and report child sexual abuse content on a voluntary basis (see EUROPE 12557/13, 12575/25).
The EU Council’s negotiating mandate clarifies the link between the Interim Regulation and the General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679). It does not follow the Commission’s proposal to apply the derogation only to technologies that were in regular use by communication service providers before the entry into force of the Interim Regulation. However, it specifies that the users of these technologies will have to consult the supervisory authorities beforehand to check that they are sufficiently non-intrusive in accordance with the state of the art in the industry. The text mandates the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) to issue guidelines on compliance with the GDPR, in particular on the prior consultation procedure under Article 36 of the GDPR.
The EU Council maintains the expiry of the derogation in 2025, as proposed by the Commission. It should be recalled that the Commission intends to propose more sustainable legislation to combat online sexual abuse of children by the second quarter of 2021.
See the text of the general approach: https://bit.ly/3e8UYNo (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)