Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

EU privacy rules tilt to industry, NGO says

A pro-transparency group has documented intense industry lobbying in the lead up to a vote on digital privacy at the European Parliament this week.

Brussels-based Corporate Europe Observatory, an NGO, on Tuesday (17 October) said over 800 amendments had been tabled on a bill designed to protect privacy and protection of electronic communication data for people.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

First proposed earlier this year by the European Commission, the so-called e-privacy regulation is facing a key vote in the civil liberties committee on Thursday (19 October) with the bulk of the amendments weighing in favour of the industry.

The NGO report suggests a heavy footprint from the industry in the lead up to the EU commission's proposal in January and towards MEPs ahead of the Thursday vote.

It noted some 41 meetings to discuss the file were held in 2016 between lobbyists and the European Commission. Of those, 36 were corporate interest and five with civil society.

"The figure of 41 meetings is likely to be an under-estimate," notes the report, given that private meetings and roundtable talks are not included.

It noted that industry lobby groups in Brussels have spent large sums of money to represent big internet firms like Amazon, Facebook, Google or telecom companies like Orange, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone.

E-privacy or data protection

The industry is broadly opposed to the regulation, claiming it will restrict innovation and that the upcoming data protection regulation is good enough.

The data protection regulation deals with personal data, whereas e-privacy deals with the confidentiality of communications.

Trade unions, civil groups and NGOs say e-privacy rules are needed to protect fundamental rights.

A leaked version of the proposal, first published by Politico Europe in December 2016, took on a sudden shift towards pro-industry views when the EU commission finally made the proposal public the following month.

"It is impossible to say exactly what impact all the heavy corporate lobbying had on the final Commission proposal," noted the report.

But it said things like default privacy settings and the ability for class-action suits went missing in the final version.

The final version was presented in late January by EU justice commissioner Vera Jourova and Andrus Ansip, the vice-president for the digital single market.

"Our proposal will guarantee privacy for both content and metadata derived from electronic communications for example like the time and location of a call," said Ansip at the time.

He noted people will have the right to say yes or no when it comes to use of their own data and that user consent would be paramount.

But others like the Paris-based digital activist NGO, La Quadrature du Net, say the reforms to be voted on Thursday would broadly strip users of their consent.

It says the political groups have agreed to compromises that favour the industry over fundamental rights.

Such data is big money. In 2015, it was valued at €275 billion in the European Union. The EU commission believes it could triple by 2020.

The latest reforms aims to replace the current e-privacy directive, which applies only to telecom operators.

The plan is to pry open online messaging services and collect the content or meta-data, such as place and time, supposedly based on user consent.

Metadata can be used to produce heat maps in terms of where people are moving, which may be useful for developing transport services.

The content of emails are being scanned for targeted advertising, which may also pose privacy issues for the users.

Privacy rules to create jobs, EU data chief says

Giovanni Buttarelli, the European data protection supervisor, says e-privacy reforms open up new job opportunities for small businesses in Europe and asks EU lawmakers to endorse the proposal in a vote on Thursday.

EU Parliament set to sue EU Commission over Hungary funds

The European Parliament will likely take the European Commission to court for unblocking more than €10bn in funds for Hungary last December. A final nod of approval is still needed by European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola.

EU Commission clears Poland's access to up to €137bn EU funds

The European Commission has legally paved the way for Poland to access up to €137bn EU funds, following Donald Tusk's government's efforts to strengthen the independence of their judiciary and restore the rule of law in the country.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Opinion

I'll be honest — Moldova's judicial system isn't fit for EU

To state a plain truth: at present, Moldova does not have a justice system worthy of a EU member state; it is riven with corruption and lax and inconsistent standards, despite previous attempts at reform, writes Moldova's former justice minister.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us