GDPR Policy
On Wednesday, EU Member States approved a change to the GDPR that would put the profit-making interests of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta and SpaceX over European's fundamental right to data protection. According to the approved text, processing personal data “
in the context of AI
” should automatically be lawful. In particular, Big Tech would be able to use all personal data collected over the past decades with virtually no restrictions, as long as this happens “
in the context
” of AI. Schrems: “
Under the agreed text, the profits of AI companies would typically trump European’s fundamental right to privacy. This is nothing but a digital expropriation of Europeans.”
All this is happening despite the key figures of AI corporations actively warning about the enormous risks associated with their own products.
Text approved by the Council on Wednesday, published on Thursday
Last limits fall: Profits of AI companies trump data protection?
As part of the "Digital Omnibus" Proposal, the European Commission claimed it would only make minor changes to simplify things for EU companies. At the same time, it explicitly claimed to maintain a “high level of protection” for people in Europe. Therefore, a “fast-track procedure” was chosen. This was done without carrying out a fundamental rights assessment or directly involving the European expert group on data protection.
Article 88c, as proposed by the European Commission (now Article 88bis in the Council document), intends to liberate the use of personal data for AI. The proposal is currently with the Council, where the Irish Presidency currently holds the reins. Ireland also serves as the EU headquarter for the majority of the US and Chinese AI corporations.
Digital expropriation: approved in the Council.
With the support of Germany and other EU powerhouses, the Council (representing EU Member States) on Wednesday approved that companies should generally be permitted to do basically anything wh
