“The GDPR, the ePrivacy framework and the AI Act are not obstacles to innovation — they are the foundation of Europe’s human-centric digital model,” European Digital Rights (EDRi) wrote in an October blog. “Yet, under the pretext of coherence, the Commission seems prepared to weaken ePrivacy protections.”
The draft also outlined Article 88b, which would require browsers or operating systems to transmit user consent preferences automatically once technical standards are defined, potentially phasing out the current wave of cookie banners.
There’s a carve-out for media companies, though. News organizations could continue requiring explicit consent, which the Commission justified as protecting journalism’s “economic basis.”
