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Privacy Regulations

BACKGROUND

As part of the European Commission's 1999 Review of the communications framework, a draft proposal to update the Telcoms Data Protection Directive (97/66/EC) was adopted on 12 July 2000, known as the Communications Data Protection Directive (CDPD) and more commonly known as the Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications (DPEC). The Directive made a number of changes in view of technological developments by replacing definitions for telecommunications networks and services concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy, which increased the level of protection for consumers.
 
In particular, the DPEC enabled the provision of value added services based on location and traffic data, subject to the consent of consumers. It removed the possibility of consumers being charged for exercising the right not to appear in public directories. It also introduced new information and consent requirements on entries in publicly available directories, including a requirement that consumers are informed of all the usage possibilities of publicly available directories including for example reverse searching from a telephone number in order to obtain a name and address. In addition, the new Directive clarified the position of e-mail and use of the Internet and extended controls on unsolicited direct marketing to all forms of electronic communications including unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE or Spam) and SMS to mobile telephones. In addition, it allowed Member States to introduce provisions on the retention of traffic and location data for law enforcement purposes and it introduced controls on the use of cookies on websites.