All posts by Brenda Villa

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESENTS THE EU REGULATION PROPOSAL ON THE SO CALLED “E-PRIVACY”.

28/03/2017

On January 10, 2017, the European Commission sent to the EU Parliament the proposal for the EU Regulation concerning the protection of personal data in electronic communications. Such proposal, which is part of the „Strategy for a Unified Digital Market“ recently promoted by the EU institutions in order to enhance the public confidence in digital services and in their safety, constitutes a lex specialis of the new EU Regulation no. 679/2016 on privacy and will complete the rules concerning the protection of the information included in electronic communications and having the character of „personal data“. If approved, the new regulation will repeal the EU Directive 2002/58/CE concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the sector of electronic communications.


 

The aim of the Regulation is to adapt the current European legal framework to the latest developments in the field of electronic communications, especially after the spread in the market of new models of communication and messaging, so-called „Over the top“, such as Facebook, Skype and WhatsApp.

The main innovations contained in the regulation proposal are: i) the provision of stricter rules for the processing, by electronic communication providers, of the data contained in electronic communications: the provider will in fact be obliged to remove or otherwise anonymize such data once the recipient of the communication has received its content (art. 7); ii) the simplification of the rules on „cookies“: the user’s consent won’t in fact be necessary anymore for the saving, among others, of cookies necessary to measure the number of website visitors or of cookies that are required to guarantee the website’s functionality in favour of the user (eg. storage of items in a shopping cart of an e-commerce website) (art. 8); iii) the provision of stronger guarantees for the users of so-called interpersonal communication services based on a number (eg. mobile telephony services): the providers of such services will be required to make available to the user services that enable the generalized block of anonymous calls or of calls coming from specific numbers (art. 12 and 14).

According to the legislative procedure for the approval of EU regulations, this proposal of regulation, in order to acquire force of law and to become directly applicable in all Member States, must now be approved by both the European Parliament and the EU Council. The aim is to let the Regulation enter into force on 25 May 2018, together with EU Regulation on privacy.


LA COMMISSIONE EUROPEA PRESENTA LA PROPOSTA DI REGOLAMENTO UE SULLA c.d.  “E-PRIVACY”.

28/03/2017

Lo scorso 10 gennaio 2017 la Commissione Europea ha trasmesso al Parlamento Europeo la proposta di regolamento in materia di protezione dei dati personali nelle comunicazioni elettroniche. Tale proposta, che si innesta nella più ampia “Strategia per il Mercato Unico Digitale” recentemente promossa dalle istituzioni UE al fine di accrescere la fiducia del cittadino nei servizi digitali e la sicurezza degli stessi, costituirà una lex specialis rispetto al Nuovo Regolamento UE n. 679/2016 in materia di privacy ed integrerà la disciplina normativa a protezione delle informazioni contenute nelle comunicazioni elettroniche ed aventi carattere di “dato personale”. Se approvata, la nuova disciplina abrogherà la Direttiva Europea 2002/58/CE relativa al trattamento dei dati personali e alla tutela della vita privata nel settore delle comunicazioni elettroniche.


 

Scopo del regolamento è adeguare l’attuale assetto normativo europeo all’evoluzione registrata nel settore delle comunicazioni elettroniche, in particolare a seguito dell’affermazione sul mercato di nuovi modelli di comunicazione e messaggistica c.d. “over the top”, quali Facebook, Whatsapp e Skype.

Tra le principali novità contenute nella proposta di regolamento si segnalano: i) la previsione di regole più stringenti per il trattamento, da parte del fornitore di comunicazioni elettroniche, dei dati oggetto delle stesse: il fornitore sarà infatti tenuto a cancellare o comunque anonimizzare tali dati dopo che il destinatario della comunicazione ne abbia ricevuto il contenuto (art. 7); ii) la semplificazione delle regole in materia di “cookies”: verrà infatti meno l’obbligo del consenso dell’utente per il salvataggio, tra l’altro, dei cookies necessari a misurare il numero di visitatori di un sito o che siano necessari a garantirne la funzionalità a beneficio dell’utente (es. memorizzazione degli articoli inseriti nel carrello di un sito e-commerce) (art. 8); iii) la previsione di maggiori garanzie per gli utenti dei c.d. servizi di comunicazione interpersonale basati su un numero (es. servizi di telefonia mobile): i fornitori di tali servizi saranno tenuti a mettere a disposizione dell’utente servizi che gli consentano il blocco generalizzato di chiamate in forma anonima o provenienti da specifiche numerazioni (artt. 12 e 14).

In base all’iter legislativo per l’approvazione delle normative europee, la proposta di regolamento, perché acquisti forza di legge e diventi direttamente applicabile in tutti gli Stati Membri, dovrà ora essere approvata dal Parlamento Europeo e dal Consiglio dell’Unione Europea. L’obiettivo è che il regolamento entri in vigore il 25 maggio 2018, insieme al Regolamento UE in materia di privacy.


SIMONA LAVAGNINI SPEAKS AT THE MICROSOFT WORKSHOP ON THE TOPIC OF SOFTWARE PROTECTION

21/03/2017

On 15 March 2017 Ms. Simona Lavagnini was called on to speak at the SAM&C Workshop organized by Microsoft for its employees at the new offices in Milan. The event focused on the matter of protection afforded to computer programs.


 

The meeting was organized for Microsoft employees and internal collaborators and considered various issues pertaining to software protection and Microsoft programmes. Ms. Lavagnini intervened at the meeting, providing a complete outline of the civil, criminal and administrative legal aspects, considering all matters connected to intellectual property. Software was examined as a fundamentally important asset, protectable under copyright law as well pursuant to the regulations on trademarks and the laws on corporate liability. Specific attention was given to various infringements governed by the law and to the responsibility of intermediaries and the public administration.

SIMONA LAVAGNINI SPEAKS AT THE MICROSOFT WORKSHOP ON THE TOPIC OF SOFTWARE PROTECTION

21/03/2017

On 15 March 2017 Ms. Simona Lavagnini was called on to speak at the SAM&C Workshop organized by Microsoft for its employees at the new offices in Milan. The event focused on the matter of protection afforded to computer programs.


 

The meeting was organized for Microsoft employees and internal collaborators and considered various issues pertaining to software protection and Microsoft programmes. Ms. Lavagnini intervened at the meeting, providing a complete outline of the civil, criminal and administrative legal aspects, considering all matters connected to intellectual property. Software was examined as a fundamentally important asset, protectable under copyright law as well pursuant to the regulations on trademarks and the laws on corporate liability. Specific attention was given to various infringements governed by the law and to the responsibility of intermediaries and the public administration.

SIMONA LAVAGNINI SPEAKS AT THE MICROSOFT WORKSHOP ON THE TOPIC OF SOFTWARE PROTECTION

21/03/2017

On 15 March 2017 Ms. Simona Lavagnini was called on to speak at the SAM&C Workshop organized by Microsoft for its employees at the new offices in Milan. The event focused on the matter of protection afforded to computer programs.


 

The meeting was organized for Microsoft employees and internal collaborators and considered various issues pertaining to software protection and Microsoft programmes. Ms. Lavagnini intervened at the meeting, providing a complete outline of the civil, criminal and administrative legal aspects, considering all matters connected to intellectual property. Software was examined as a fundamentally important asset, protectable under copyright law as well pursuant to the regulations on trademarks and the laws on corporate liability. Specific attention was given to various infringements governed by the law and to the responsibility of intermediaries and the public administration.