Following the agreement made on the EU telecoms reform at the beginning of November 2009, the revised ePrivacy Directive must be implemented by the Member States within 18 months.

The new provisions will bring vital improvements in the protection of the privacy and personal data of all Europeans active in the online environment. According to the new Directive, as this was amended by the European Parliament and adopted by the Council, the improvements relate to security breaches, spyware, cookies, spam, and enforcement of rules.

The changes introduced include:

• for the first time in the EU, a framework for mandatory notification of personal data breaches. Any communications provider or Internet service provider (ISP) involved in individuals' personal data being compromised must inform them if the breach is likely to adversely affect them. Examples of such circumstances would include those where the loss could result in identity theft, fraud, humiliation or damage to reputation. The notification will include recommended measures to avoid or reduce the risks. The data breach notification framework builds on the enhanced provisions on security measures to be implemented by operators, and should stem the increasing flood of data breaches;
• reinforced protection against interception of users' communications through the use of - for example - spyware and cookies stored on a user's computer or other device. Under the new Directive users should be offered better information and easier ways to control whether they want cookies stored in their terminal equipment;
• the possibility for any person negatively affected by spam, including ISPs, to bring effective legal proceedings against spammers;
• substantially strengthened enforcement powers for national data protection authorities. They will for example be able to order breaches of the law to stop immediately and will have improved means of cross-border cooperation.

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) cooperated closely with the European Parliament the Council and the European Commission on the legislative work leading to the final text.

Further information:

• Original source - Europa, Press Release Rapid, Website
• European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)
• Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council