What is the e-Privacy Directive and how is it different from the GDPR?

The e-Privacy Directive deals with the processing of personal data in the field of electronic communications, such as the internet and telephones. An important part of the directive's rules deals with cookies and sending spam. Cookies are small pieces of information that websites put on your computer to remember things.

Under the e-Privacy Directive, you have to ask the user's permission on your website before you can put cookies on their computer. Unless they are functional cookies that make the website work properly, such as remembering your shopping basket.

The rules in the e-Privacy Directive are specific to the electronic communications sector. The GDPR is another law that applies to all types of businesses and sectors. The GDPR deals with personal data protection in general and has more rules.

In the Netherlands, we have laid down the e-Privacy Directive in the Telecommunicatiewet. The most important thing from this law is that only with informed and voluntary consent from users, you can place cookies on people's smartphones, computers or tablets. The same applies to reading from users' devices. Functional cookies are however excluded, which are meant to make the website work properly.