One could be forgiven for thinking that knowing how to comply with a legal obligation that has been in place for nearly a decade would be clear cut. However, widespread practice tells us that this is far from the truth. In November 2009, as part of wider reforms to the European telecommunications regulatory framework, the European Union introduced various amendments to the existing Directive 2002/58/EC (‘e-Privacy Directive’), including to the provisions regulating the use of…

LONDON, 25 November 2019 – Hogan Lovells has published a study evaluating the ongoing legislative proposal for a new ePrivacy Regulation, a law aimed at updating the current ePrivacy framework in the EU. After nearly three years of debates and negotiations, the European Union is nowhere near agreeing a position on how to achieve the right balance between the need for technological innovation, public security and the protection of privacy in the context of the digital economy.…

On 1 October 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down a crucial decision impacting the way that consent is obtained on the internet. The judgment relates to Case C-673/17 (Planet49 – a previous post outlining the background can be found here). In the Planet49 case, the German Federal Court referred a number of questions to the CJEU regarding the validity of consent to cookies placed by a website operating…