The European Parliament in Strasbourg voted on the 27th of October, in favour of starting negotiations with the Council and Commission over new rules to give citizens control over how their confidential information can be used or shared online.
« Today’s vote is a victory for citizen’s rights over the lobbying efforts of big business, said Parliament negotiator for the e-privacy legislation and S&D Group MEP, Marju Lauristin. We can start the negotiations with the Council and Commission and finalise these important proposals as soon as possible ».
«We will now continue the fight for the strongest protections possible for citizens’ confidential information in negotiations with the Council and the Commission », added S&D Group spokesperson for civil liberties, justice and home affairs, Birgit Sippel.
The e-Privacy regulation aims to put users back in control of their communication data and wants to ensure that they are able to decide how this information is being used. It covers new forms of private communication, such as WhatsApp or Skype.