... furiously lobbying ahead of the vote in the hope of negotiating a lighter-touch regime that takes into account the interests of business.
Argues Malte Lohan, director of public affairs at the WFA: "The European Parliament wants to make the toughest privacy law the world has ever seen. The EU is championing the rights of citizens, but it's not that straightforward - this could undermine the digital economy."
The first crucial issue is around the definition of personal data.
The Data Protection Regulation could include not only personal information like names, bank details and passport numbers, but all sorts of identifiers that marketers routinely use – and consider to be anonymous -- in the world of big data.
The second - and equally crucial - bill centres on the definition of consent.
It seeks explicit, prior, opt-in consent at every turn, asking consumers to negotiate a cookie wall before they can engage in such routine activities as checking the weather or viewing the news.
Posits Mr Lohan: "From a marketer point of view it's totally disproportionate."
The proposals were first outlined last year. Since then, Jan-Philipp Albrecht, a Member of the European Parliament who represents the German Green Party, has been working on refining the complex document.
Reports AdAge: "Mr Albrecht specializes in civil liberties and is tough on privacy issues."
Read the original unabridged AdAge.com article.