Portland Firm Warns Against Impact of EU's ePrivacy Law

Portland, OR - Augusto Beato, CEO of Portland SEO, warns US companies against a looming EU ePrivacy regulation that would slow down digital innovation.

This regulation is stricter than the GDPR in terms of protecting the confidentiality of electronic communications. "With this impending regulation, transacting with EU members would practically kill digital innovation," said Beato. "Such regulations are only making Europe less attractive to deal with for the rest of the world."

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The emerging EU legislation requires companies to obtain consumers’ explicit and informed permission to use their information for a specific, agreed-upon purpose. If consumers don't give their consent, firms would have to delete that information and would no longer be able to collect it by default.

This gives consumers control over their communications metadata. And firms like Facebook might not be able to keep information about when they send messages or how long phone calls last.

The bill also requires companies to offer people who have not agreed to have their data collected the same communications services.

But tech industry groups argue that ePrivacy’s provisions are so onerous that they would hinder innovations like smart cars, which automatically transmit safety information back to the manufacturer. And requiring companies to provide equal communications services to people who opt out of data mining could cause sites or apps that rely on data-driven advertising to start charging fees or close down.

The American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union called the legislation “overly strict.”

“Do you really want them to read your content on a dating app?” asked Birgit Sippel, a European Parliament member from Germany who drafted the ePrivacy legislation. “Consumers need to get back control over what is happening with their lives and their data.”
The regulation was approved by European Parliament but is stuck in a review by the Council of the European Union.