EU ePrivacy rules would alter digital business models

Subject

EU's ePrivacy proposal.

Significance

Austria, as president of the Council of the EU for the second half of 2018, has made finalising the Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communication or ‘ePrivacy Regulation’ (EPR) for the European digital single market a core priority.

Impacts

• Critics argue that the EPR will further undercut the EU’s attractiveness as a digital economy hub compared to the United States and Asia.
• Advocates counter that, as with the GDPR, the EPR will reinforce the EU’s status as the agenda-setter in regulating the digital economy.
• Privacy rules and security considerations may collide.