Die Artikel-29-Arbeitsgruppe hat heute (25. Juli 2016) ihre Stellungnahme zur Überprüfung der E‑Privacy Richtlinie 2002/58/EG (Opinion 3/2016 on the evaluation and review of the ePrivacy Directive) veröffentlicht. Hiernach soll der Schutz elektronischer Kommunikation durch die Ausdehnung des Anwendungsbereichs der neuen E‑Privacy Bestimmungen verbessert werden:
The scope of the current ePD is mostly limited to traditional electronic communication services (such as internet service providers and telcos). Many of its provisions do not apply, for example, to Internet telephony (VoIP) or e‑mail and instant messaging providers. Given the high dependence of many Europeans on electronic communications, the new legal instrument must seek to protect the confidentiality of functionally equivalent electronic communication services (such as, for example, WhatsApp, Google GMail, Skype and Facebook Messenger), especially when it concerns messages exchanged by and between individuals and private user groups.