e-privacy: Opt for an outcome that's not like a bad movie

The Council working group asked a while back that the draft regulation on e-privacy be subject to a study on whether it had a favourable economic impact on SMEs . Based on feedback from Europe's expanding ecosystem of data, apps and programmatic buying startups the answer would not be good.

When it introduced its proposal, the European Commission sought to make it easier for European consumers to manage their data privacy online. There is a consensus across the sector, however, that the current proposal is not hitting the mark. In short, the ePrivacy Regulation is Like A Bad Movie.For its part, data-driven advertising contributes €526 billion per year to the EU economy, and provides 6 million jobs. This industry is made up of burgeoning startups, online media and entertainment platforms, all of which face real threats to their business model should the ePrivacy regulation pass as it currently stands. This disruption would have major consequences for European Consumers- each of which are laid out in a series of clear and to the point videos coordinated by the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA) in its #LikeABadMovie campaign

The draft ePrivacy Regulation could negatively impact consumers in four key ways : 1) It will limit today’s choice of ad-funded media. 2) It will cause widespread consumer confusion. 3) It will reduce the availability of apps. 4) It will reduce consumers’ access to free online content and services. if you want to understand what this means then go view the different scenarios on the #LikeaBadMovie campaign site.

But policymakers can still change the ending is the important message of the videos in the #LikeABadMovie campaign I recently viewed. Important decisions are currently being made by MEPs in Brussels on the draft ePrivacy Regulation before it goes to the Council. In the interest of building a strong Digital Single Market (DSM), it is essential that policymakers get this right.

There are three things policymakers can do to create a more transparent online world that safeguards the privacy of EU citizens while ensuring the continuity of the services they love: 1) Include other grounds for data processing. 2) Encourage better informed consumers. 3) Align the text with the GDPR.

So lets hope that in the weeks ahead the right decisions are made for better regulation to ensure that the e-Privacy proposal ends well and not like a bad movie.

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