You're confusing the upcoming ePrivacy regulation with the existing ePrivacy directive - one that's been in force for 18 years.
Just like people thought that the data protection was a new concept when the GDPR was created, ignoring the fact that the Data Protection Directive had been around for decades.
Just like people thought that the data protection was a new concept when the GDPR was created, ignoring the fact that the Data Protection Directive had been around for decades.