IAB issues joint statement on e-Privacy Directive

We love the IAB's determined and dogmatic fight to protect the interests of the ad industry. From ad-blocking and standardisation to security and measurements, the IAB has lobbied well for the interests of many disparate stakeholders. And now it has formed a joint statement with 12 trade bodies to combat the convoluted mess that is the European Commission's e-Privacy Directive. The statement asked to empower trust and innovation by repealing the e-Privacy Directive and scrap the cookie law. 

We've added it verbatim below:

"We believe that simplifying and streamlining regulation will benefit consumers by ensuring they are provided with a simple, consistent and meaningful set of rules designed to protect their personal data.

At the same time, it will encourage innovation across the digital value chain and drive new growth and social opportunities. This is critical at a time when digital companies are striving to launch new innovative services and working to build a 5G Europe.

In this context, we believe that the review process of the e-Privacy Directive offers a unique opportunity to achieve a simple, clear and horizontal approach to digital regulation. Sector-specific rules on privacy are no longer able to address the challenges of the digital age.

For this reason, we believe that Europe should fully take stock of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which creates a comprehensive set of horizontal rules ensuring high levels of data protection."

The IAB states the e-Privacy Directive is still "necessary" and "meaningful" and simply wants to eliminate any overlap with the GDPR. It's purely a case of trying to streamline the legal framework, which will better fit, not the ad industry per se, but consumer protection.