I-scoop[0] explains it well. Do some digging in the documents[1] and you'll get the idea where it's heading to.
"Respect for the privacy of one’s communications is an essential dimension of this right, applying both to natural and legal persons. Confidentiality of electronic communications ensures that information exchanged between parties and the external elements of such communication, including when the information has been sent, from where, to whom, is not to be revealed to anyone other than to the parties involved in a communication. The principle of confidentiality should apply to current and future means of communication, including calls, internet access, instant messaging applications, e-mail, internet phone calls and personal messaging provided through social media." [1](page 6, article 7)
> (The reason I ask is that news reporting on EU law in English is extremely unreliable, and it's best to go to primary sources)
Completely agreed, it's a complete jungle of information and the source documents are hard to digest.
[0] https://www.i-scoop.eu/gdpr/eu-eprivacy-regulation/#The_cons... [1] http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-15333-2017-I...