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“Better Regulation”: Rethinking (or getting rid of?) the ePrivacy Directive
The European Commission’s announcement that it will consider simplifying regulatory regimes, notably in relation to data and technology, seems to open Pandora’s box. Is it a chance to draw lessons from what works well and what works less well? In this series on “Better Regulation” in relation to the digital economy, I will be exploring…
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Relative nature of personal data, consent for pseudonymisation? Dissecting the EDPS v SRB AG Opinion
Understanding what is and is not personal data is fundamental to the proper interpretation and enforcement of the most famous data protection law, the GDPR. If no personal data are being processed, the GDPR simply does not apply. Some have considered that “personal data” is an absolute concept, i.e. information can be “in and of…
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Op-Ed: Data protection damages without proof, courtesy of shortcuts in legal reasoning (Case T-354/22, Bindl)
This op-ed was first published on EULawLive on 21 January 2025 and is now republished here, in accordance with the EULawLive guidelines & terms for guest authors. The header image is of course an easy pun about the implications of a broader application of judgment T-354/22 and how data subjects might be in a position…
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Op-ed: AI training data = (non-)personal data? And is consent really relevant?
The European Data Protection Board is at it again: an urgent procedure has been launched to obtain clarification on “some of the core issues that arise in the context of processing for the purpose of developing and training an AI model”. The aim? To bring “some much needed clarity into this complex area”. Yet the…
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Op-Ed: Who dares question the primacy of data protection?
Let the name-calling begin. Companies looking to leverage data are now told that it is just like they are responsible for oil spills, cancer and drug cartel violence. As a lawyer working for some of the companies facing these absurd comparisons, I thought I would tackle another controversial stance now: just how absolute (or relative)…
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Op-Ed: A critical analysis of the EDPB’s “Pay or Consent” Opinion
Illustration: Dall-E rendering of just how potentially evil the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and certain privacy rights campaigners view the “Pay or Consent” approach + large companies. I didn’t try to get any drug cartel references in there, though as a lawyer acting for adtech companies I have been likened to a drug cartel…
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Op-Ed: If AI replaces work for junior lawyers, what happens next?
“AI won’t replace you – a lawyer who uses it will” is quickly becoming a cliché – but what about junior lawyers and the next generation(s)? A newly published study on legal contract review brings this question again into focus (Better Call GPT, Comparing Large Language Models Against Lawyers), as it concludes that “LLMs perform…
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Op-Ed: Maybe no consent needed for advertising under ePrivacy “cookie” rule?
Reading through the CNIL’s new decision against Yahoo on cookies brings back to mind a question that has stuck with me for well over a decade: what is the exact reasoning that has led many EU-based authorities to say that advertising cookies/etc. are not strictly necessary for the provision of a service, and why does…
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EDPB seeks to redefine ePrivacy – Part II: Overbroad notions and regulator activism?
Last week, I questioned the European Data Protection Board’s very authority to adopt its newly published Guidelines 2/2023 on Technical Scope of Art. 5(3) of ePrivacy Directive (i.e. the so-called “cookie” rule), guidelines according to which those rules should also apply to a broad range of other technologies and information, such as IP addresses, pixels…
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EDPB seeks to redefine ePrivacy – Part I: By what authority?
“They will cover many scenarios”, said an EDPB member informally a couple of days ago, talking about what would become the EDPB’s new Guidelines 2/2023 on Technical Scope of Art. 5(3) of ePrivacy Directive (subject to a public consultation – more on that later). After having gone through them in detail, I cannot help but…
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Op-ed: “Pay or data” has its reasons – even if you disagree
“Pay or data” and cookie walls are clearly controversial topics, but I feel something needs to be said regarding their justification – else LinkedIn and the broader web may seem to be a very anti-business environment from a data protection perspective, based on various posts and articles I have seen in recent months. Running a…