Oftel continues to work closely with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to prepare for the implementation of the Directive on privacy and electronic communications (2002/58/EC).

The Directive is one of the measures that arose from the European Commission’s 1999 review of the regulatory framework for electronic communications. It concerns the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications markets. The overriding aim of the Directive is to take account of technological changes and to make the provisions as technology-neutral as possible.

The Directive makes a number of changes to existing provisions which are currently set out in the Telecommunications Data Protection Directive 1997/66/EC – implemented in the UK by the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999.

Key new elements of the Directive include:

• cookies and similar tracking devices;
• data retention for law enforcement purposes;
• subscriber directories;
• unsolicited communications for direct marketing purposes; and
• the provision of value added services based on traffic and location data.

The Directive was adopted on 12 July 2002 and must be implemented by the DTI by 31 October 2003 at the latest. Implementation in the UK will be by means of secondary legislation under the European Communities Act.

Oftel has attended meetings with the DTI, the Office of the Information Commissioner and the telecommunications industry to discuss issues emerging from the Directive and implementing the regulations.

The DTI welcomes comments on the UK’s approach to implementation (tel: 020 7215 1189 / e-mail: cdpd@dti.gsi.gov.uk). Information about the consultation is available on the DTI website at www.dti.gov.uk/cii/regulatory/telecomms/telecommsregulations/ec_telecomms_data_protection.shtml.

A copy of the Directive can be found at www.cdt.org/privacy/guide/protect/telecom-priv02.pdf

For further information, contact Neil Paterson (tel: 020 7634 8732 / e-mail: neil.paterson@oftel.gov.uk).