The European Commission published its E-Evidence Proposal in April 2018 and the Council finalized its General Approach early 2019. However, we welcome that the inclusion of additional safeguards is still being discussed in the European Parliament. As Bitkom has always addressed the fundamental rights questions of the E-Evidence Dossier (see our Position Paper here) we published a joint statement with a variety of stakeholders to encourage the EU legislator to push for more safeguards to protect fundamental rights and ensure legal certainty for providers. We therefore urge the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission to strike the right balance between expanding law enforcement’s ability to gather electronic evidence and protecting fundamental rights in the new e-Evidence legislation.
The Joint Statement can be downloaded below.