December 22, 2020

Anna Murray 

Since December 20, the European Union (EU) will enforce the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive, also known as "ePrivacy Directive". Under the ePrivacy Directive, Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram are prohibited from utilizing messaging and calling data as before.

The ePrivacy Directive is a policy to protect privacy against the monitoring of email, messaging apps, and other digital services in the EU. Thus, scanning from Facebook in its personal communications is now regarded as violating the privacy rights of Europeans.

Facebook's Public Policy Director and Head of EU Affairs, Aura Salla, explained in a blog post that messaging and calling data on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram would be limited. However, officials in the Europol headquarters in Hague, law enforcement agencies, and child advocacy groups argued that the new digital privacy code will be a safe haven for child exploitation, including crimes in child sexual abuse.

Photo:Webshot.