1This Regulation should apply to all matters concerning the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms vis-à-vis the processing of personal data which are not subject to specific obligations with the same objective set out in Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council¹, including the obligations on the controller and the rights of natural persons. 2In order to clarify the relationship between this Regulation and Directive 2002/58/EC, that Directive should be amended accordingly. 3Once this Regulation is adopted, Directive 2002/58/EC should be reviewed in particular in order to ensure consistency with this Regulation,
¹ Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications) (OJ L 201, 31.7.2002, p. 37).
* This title is an unofficial description.
Why Recital 173 Matters for GDPR Compliance?
Recital 173 clarifies the relationship between the GDPR and Directive 2002/58/EC, also known as the ePrivacy Directive. It makes clear that GDPR applies generally to the protection of personal data, but where the ePrivacy Directive contains more specific rules for electronic communications, those rules take priority. This recital is important for organizations handling cookies, direct marketing, metadata, and other communications data, because compliance often requires reading both frameworks together. It helps explain why GDPR does not replace all sector-specific privacy rules in the electronic communications context.