Brussels is preparing a «digital simplification» package that could change basic data protection rules to benefit artificial intelligence. The idea is to speed up the launch of AI services in Europe, allowing sensitive data to be processed in certain cases and reducing the bureaucracy surrounding online tracking.
Brussels is preparing a «digital simplification» package that could change basic data protection rules to benefit artificial intelligence. The idea is to speed up the launch of AI services in Europe, allowing sensitive data to be processed in certain cases and reducing the bureaucracy surrounding online tracking.
POLITICO describes the European Commission’s plan. The «digital omnibus» project proposes to make point changes to the European privacy rules (GDPR), in particular, allowing AI companies to work with «special categories» of data (health, ethnicity, etc.) for certain purposes, simplifying the processing of data where names are replaced with codes, and adding broader grounds for tracking users to reduce reliance on consent banners.
Critics see this as a risk of undermining standards that have been considered untouchable since the GDPR was adopted. Former co-architect of the reform, Jan-Philipp Albrecht, warns that interfering with the privacy «red line» would cause a political explosion. Austrian human rights activist Max Schrems calls the approach «a poorly written quick fix» and points to the lack of full impact assessments, while civil society organizations criticize the haste with consultations.
Supporters of the changes appeal to competitiveness: a strict interpretation of the norms has repeatedly stopped the launch of AI functions in the EU, while the US does not have a single federal analogue that would similarly limit the training of models on data sets. An additional argument is the promise that businesses will receive clearer rules for working with data, and users will receive fewer intrusive banners that have long devalued the content of consent.
Estonia, France, Austria and Slovenia are reportedly opposed to opening up the GDPR, while Germany is lobbying for broader relaxations for AI. In the European Parliament, some MEPs are warning of the risk of curtailing fundamental rights, while others are «warmly» welcoming the intention to provide clarity for EU researchers and companies so that «third countries» do not take advantage of the changes.
The next procedure involves the official submission of the package, after which negotiations between the EU Council and the European Parliament will begin. Even if presented on November 19, the text could still be reworked: without compromises between privacy and innovation, the document risks getting stuck.
GDPR has been in effect since 2018 and has not been changed yet, as any attempt to «tighten the screws» opens up a front of lobbying and judicial discussions. The reform, if approved, will give the AI market clearer rules of the game and fewer formal barriers, but at the same time will require stronger oversight of how companies actually work with sensitive data and user tracking.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how the European Commission had previously found that Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok were not giving researchers sufficient access to data and were making complaint and appeal tools too confusing for users.
