Ref. Ares(2018)6600682 - 20/12/2018
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS, CONTENT AND
TECHNOLOGY
Resources and Support
Compliance and Planning
Brussels, 20th December 2018
CONNECT
Dr Johnny Ryan
Brave Software
Mindspace Shoreditch
9 Appold St
London, EC2A 2AP
United Kingdom
C
opy sent in advance via email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
REGISTERED LETTER WITH ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT
Subject: Your application for access to documents- Ref GestDem 2018/5644
Dear Mr Ryan,
I refer to your e-mail dated 26/10/2018 in which you make a request for access to
documents, registered after you provided your postal address on 29/10/2018 under the
above mentioned reference number. I also refer to our holding reply sent you on
21/11/2018 (our ref. Ares(2018)5954215).
1.
SCOPE OF YOUR APPLICATION
By your application you requested access to:
«Adtech lobby for the ePrivacy Regulation»
In your request, you explained further that you are interested in
«[…]documents about
"IAB Europe" , from 8 October 2016 to the present day, 8 October 2018» and specified
that
«“the "IAB" in "IAB Europe" may also be spelt out as "Interactive Advertising
Board"»
Furthermore, you detailed that
«This request for documents includes, but is not limited to,
minutes; notes, whether hand written or typed; audio recordings; verbatim reports; e-
mails; correspondence, telephone calls, video calls, publications; reports; presentations;
telephone calls; and policy papers. »
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË
2.
DOCUMENT FALLING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE REQUEST
Your application concerns the following documents:
1) Email from IAB Europe to European Commission with the title ‘Developers
Alliance / IAPP / IAB Europe roundtable in the EP on 20th June' and its
attachment - 26/06/2017 (our ref. Ares(2018)6374233):
a. External leave-behind on ePrivacy
2) Email from IAB Europe to European Commission with the title: ‘FW: IAB
Europe European executive policy fly-in - following up’ and its attachment -
29/09/2017 (our ref. Ares(2018)6374261):
a. Letter to Mrs D. Spanou
3) Email from IAB Europe to European Commission with the title ‘IAB Europe
meeting on Tuesday 11th October - following up’ and its 2 attachments –
02/12/2016 (our ref. Ares(2018)6372141):
a. IAB Europe - Digital Advertising Factsheet
b. IAB Europe - Position paper ‘Position on the review of the ePrivacy
Directive’
4) BTO from DG CONNECT DDG Claire's Bury participation at the Digital
Leaders Council of IAB Europe – 28/03/2017 (our ref. Ares(2018)6223406).
5) Email from IAB Europe to European Commission with the title ‘IAB paper on
unintended consequences of the ePrivacy Regulation proposal for European
media, consumers and Europe's digital economy’ and its 2 attachments –
05/04/2017 (our ref. Ares(2018)6220310):
a. IAB Europe’s paper on unintended consequences of the ePrivacy
Regulation proposal for European media, consumers and Europe's digital
economy.
b. IAB Europe’s online advertising fact sheet.
6) Email from IAB Europe to European Commission with the title 'FAO Vice-
President Ansip & Commissioner Oettinger - Joint letter from European
publishers in the light of the ePrivacy Directive revision' and its attachment –
23/11/2016 (our ref. Ares(2016)6570727):
a. Joint letter
7) Email from IAB Europe to European Commission with the title 'Letter:
Publishers and advertising businesses concerned about leaked ePrivacy
Regulation' and its attachment – 22/12/2016 (our re
f. Ares(2016)7139331):
a. Letter
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8) Email from EACA, on behalf of 12 trade associations, including IAB Europe, to
European Commission with the title 'Industry statement on the ePrivacy Directive
revision process' and its attachment – 22/12/2016 (our ref. Ares(2016)7141492):
a. Industry statement
3.
ASSESSMENT UNDER REGULATION 2018/1725
Having examined your application in light of Regulation (EC) No. 2018/1725 regarding
public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (hereinafter
‘Regulation 2018/1725’), we have concluded that the documents can be made partially
accessible with only personal data redacted.
The documents to which you request access contain indeed personal data, including
biometric data, relating to Commission staff and third parties.
The applicable legislation in this field is Regulation (EC) No 2018/1725 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and
agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001
and Decision No 1247/2002/EC1 (‘Regulation 2018/1725’).
Indeed, Article 3(1) of Regulation 2018/1725 provides that personal data ‘
means any
information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person […]’. The Court of
Justice has specified that any information, which by reason of its content, purpose or
effect, is linked to a particular person is to be considered as personal data1. Please note in
this respect that the names, signatures, functions, telephone numbers and/or initials
pertaining to staff members of an institution are to be considered personal data.2
Pursuant to Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation 2018/1725, personal data shall only be transmitted
if ‘[t]he recipient establishes that it is necessary to have the data transmitted for a specific
purpose in the public interest and the controller, where there is any reason to assume that the
data subject’s legitimate interests might be prejudiced, establishes that it is proportionate to
transmit the personal data for that specific purpose after having demonstrably weighed the
various competing interests’.
Only if these conditions are fulfilled and the processing constitutes lawful processing in
accordance with the requirements of Article 5 of Regulation 2018/1725, can the
transmission of personal data occur.
In your application, you do not put forward any arguments to establish the necessity to have
the personal data transmitted for a specific purpose in the public interest. Therefore, the
European Commission does not have to examine whether there is a reason to assume that
the data subject’s legitimate interests might be prejudiced.
1 Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 20 December 2017 in Case C-434/16, Peter
Novak v Data Protection Commissioner, request for a preliminary ruling, paragraphs 33-35,
ECLI:EU:T:2018:560.
2 Judgment of the General Court of 19 September 2018 in case T-39/17, Port de Brest v Commission,
paragraphs 43-44, ECLI:EU:T:2018:560.
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Notwithstanding the above, please note that there are reasons to assume that the legitimate
interests of the data subjects concerned would be prejudiced by disclosure of the personal
data reflected in the document, as there is a real and non-hypothetical risk that such public
disclosure would harm their privacy.
Consequently, I conclude that access cannot be granted to the personal data, as the need to
obtain access thereto for a purpose in the public interest has not been substantiated and there
is no reason to think that the legitimate interests of the individuals concerned would not be
prejudiced by disclosure of the personal data concerned.
Please note that all the identified documents except for No 4 were received by the
Commission from IAB. They are disclosed for information only and cannot be re-used
without the agreement of the originator, who holds a copyright on them. They do not
reflect the position of the Commission and cannot be quoted as such.
Document No 4 is a document originating for the Commission services. You may reuse it
free of charge for non-commercial and commercial purposes provided that the source is
acknowledged, that you do not distort the original meaning or message of the document.
However, the Commission does not assume liability stemming from the reuse.
4.
CONFIRMATORY APPLICATION
In case you disagree with the assessment that the redacted data are personal data, which
can only be disclosed if such disclosure is legitimate under the applicable rules on the
protection of personal data, you are entitled, in accordance with Article 7(2) of
Regulation 1049/2001, to submit a confirmatory application requesting the Commission
to review this position.
Such a confirmatory application should be addressed within 15 working days upon
receipt of this letter to the Secretary-General of the Commission at the following address:
European Commission
Secretary-General
Unit C.1. ‘Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents’
BERL 5/282
1049 Brussels
or by email t
o: xxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
(e-signed)
Katleen Engelbosch
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Electronically signed on 20/12/2018 16:39 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563
Document Outline