EEA EFTA Comment on ePrivacy

Published 22-09-2017
On 22 September Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway submitted a joint EEA EFTA Comment on the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation concerning the respect for private life and the protection of personal data in electronic communications(COM(2017) 10 final).

The EEA EFTA States welcome the Commission’s objective to achieve good, effective protection of confidentiality in its proposal for a Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications.

In their comment, the EEA EFTA States underline that it is essential that the regulation strikes the right balance between the protection of consumers and communications on the one hand, and innovation and development of services on the other. In this regard, the EEA EFTA States raise their concerns about the following issues:

  • Member States should be able to choose between an opt-in or opt-out approach for the registration of telephone numbers in public directories
  • Consumers should be able to identify traders placing telemarketing calls to them
  • Member States should be able to choose between an opt-in or opt-out approach for telemarketing
  • The regulation should include specific requirements on the harvesting of consent to telemarketing, for example end-users’ consent to direct marketing communication can only be given to one trader at a time
  • The regulation should not preclude national rules prohibiting traders from placing telemarketing calls at certain specified times
  • The regulation should clarify what kinds of marketing communications, such as those made via social media, are covered by Article 16 (1)
  • Member States should be able to decide which national authority is best suited for supervising the tasks following from the proposed regulation

The Commission’s proposal would repeal the Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications (Directive 2002/58/EC).

Submitting comments on important policy issues is one of the ways in which the EEA EFTA States participate in shaping EU legislation. A typical EEA EFTA Comment provides a brief commentary and suggestions regarding Commission initiatives such as green papers or legislative proposals. The comments are endorsed by the Standing Committee of the EFTA States and officially noted by the EEA Joint Committee after they have been sent to the relevant services in the Commission, the European Parliament or the Council.

The EEA EFTA Comment on ePrivacy is available here.

A full list of EEA EFTA Comments is available here.

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