Tag: E-Privacy Directive

Request for European Commission to investigate “Pokemon Go”

25. August 2016

A Belgian Minister of European Parliament wants that the European Commission investigates the App “Pokemon Go” in order to determine whether the App is compliant with European data protection law and furthermore, to warn European citizens of the dangers caused by the App.

Therefore, the respective Minister of European Parliament, Marc Tarabella, commented that the App violates not only the General Data Protection Regulation but furthermore, that it might violate the Europeans E-Privacy Directive due to the fact that the App stores cookies and trackers on users’ smartphones. He added  “In their eyes, tracking personal data of people is clearly considered a game and a source of research or revenue” and concluded “In Europe, the protection of privacy remains a fundamental right. We have to react, warn and strongly condemn these massive scams.”

Draft of the E-Privacy Directive to be released in September

18. August 2016

The Guardian just reported that the European Commission is about to release an update of the draft of the E-Privacy Directive in September.

This draft will probably inlcude that Apps like Skype and WhatsApp be treated the same in terms of the privacy regulations as SMS text messages and both mobile and landline calls. According to Jan Philipp Albrecht, Green MEP, this is due to the fact that “It was obvious that there needs to be an adjustment to the reality of today” he went on that “We see telecoms providers being replaced and those companies who seek to replace them need to be treated in the same way.” Furthermore, he mentioned that a focus of the new law lies in upholding strong encryption.

However, there are critics raising concerns as the law might decrease economic innovation and that it is “well-nigh impossible” to fit older legislation in newer technology.