Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential effect of the European Commission‘s proposed ePrivacy regulation on the ability of UK Safety technology companies to provide innovative services after the transition period.

The European Commission's proposed ePrivacy Regulation is currently being negotiated. The Regulation will replace the current ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC). We do not expect the Regulation to come into force before the end of the transition period and would therefore not be applicable in the UK.

Separately, there is a proposed Regulation due to come into force on 21 December 2020, that derogates from certain provisions of the ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC) as regards the use of technologies by number-independent interpersonal communications service providers for the processing of personal and other data for the purpose of combatting child sexual abuse online. This derogation is currently being negotiated within the European Council and Parliament.