Consent or Pay: How can the single market and fundamental rights work together?

‘Consent or Pay’ has dominated headlines in the past few months as the world has eagerly anticipated the EDPB’s opinion on ‘Consent or Pay’ models implemented by Large Online Platforms. It was often said that, should the model have been accepted, the internet as we know it would have changed. Civil societies have highlighted that if ‘Consent or Pay’ would be permitted, it would not be limited to news pages or social networks but would be employed by any industry sector with an ability to monetise personal data via consent.

While the EDPB opinion has now been released, it is important to deepen this discussion for at least three reasons. First, guidelines will be published by the EDPB on the wider working of the model, thus further defining rules in the sector. Second, the issue is of cross-regulatory nature, as  the European Commission has opened an investigation on such models’ compliance with the DMA. Third, court cases will very likely arise as supervisory authorities respond to complaints addressing the model.

The option to pay or either consent was faced by almost every European individual. Participants will quickly be able to understand how data protection is relevant to their everyday interactions with technology. Thus, it is a good starting point to both show the vital role of digital regulators and to spark a discussion about a critical topic.

The event will take place on 11 July 2024 at the EDPS Premises in the Giovanni Buttarelli room from 16:00 to 18:00.

Please note that this event is accessible online through registrations and will be recorded. 

Programme: 

Opening remarks by Wojciech Wiewiórowski, European Data Protection Supervisor 

Panel discussion moderated by the EDPS/EDPB Trainees with:

Filomena Chirico, Head of Unit – Digital Markets, DG Connect

Carolina Foglia, EDPB Secretariat – Head of Sector | Legal Affairs - Cooperation and Enforcement

Cristiana Santos, Assistant Professor in Law and Technology

Tiago Sérgio Cabral, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP / JusGov Research Centre. 

Chiara Manfredini, EU Policy Assistant, Access Now

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