Bitkom welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Art. 29 Working Group’s (WP29) Draft Guidelines on Consent under Regulation 2016/679 (WP 259). In addition to many other provisions of the GDPR, the definition of consent in Article 4(11) of the GDPR comes into effect on 25th of May 2018. The definition and scope of the concept of consent as one of the legal ground for processing if of the utmost importance - not only for the digital economy but also for all other sectors. When interpreting and applying the GDPR, the importance of consent as one of the legal grounds for processing cannot be underrated. The practical implementation of conditions for a valid consent, the openness and appropriateness for new and emerging technologies should be considered. This said, due to the high requirements formulated by the WP29, the current Draft Guidelines leave little room for a practical, viable implementation of techniques to obtain a valid consent. There are also several points in which the WP29 apply a higher standard that provided for in the GDPR and therefore exceed the legal requirements.
