The European Data Protection Board issued a statement on Tuesday 24 November on the draft regulation over the confidentiality of online communications, something upon which Member States are struggling to agree (see EUROPE 12607/12).
In this declaration, which was adopted on 19 November, the Board is assuming a position on the compromise proposal submitted by the German Presidency at the start of the month. In the meantime, Berlin has chosen to throw in the towel and present a progress report to the Telecommunications Council on 7 December, rather than trying to achieve a general approach.
In this declaration, the Board reiterates its preference for “broad prohibitions, narrow exceptions and the use of consent”, while emphasising that the processing of metadata remains possible without consent as long as the metadata has been genuinely anonymised. It also welcomes the inclusion of television broadcasting services or software updates in Article 8 on the protection of devices. It regrets, however, the lack of clear guidelines regarding the practice of ‘cookie walls’, a practice that prohibits users from accessing certain services without first agreeing to accept tracking cookies. See the statement: https://bit.ly/33bkrkW (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)