Critics Call Proposed Changes To Landmark EU Privacy Law 'Death By a Thousand Cuts' (reuters.com)
- Reference: 0180030854
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/11/10/2237230/critics-call-proposed-changes-to-landmark-eu-privacy-law-death-by-a-thousand-cuts
- Source link: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/critics-call-proposed-changes-landmark-eu-privacy-law-death-by-thousand-cuts-2025-11-10/
> Privacy activists say proposed changes to Europe's landmark privacy law, including making it easier for Big Tech to harvest Europeans' personal data for AI training, [1]would flout EU case law and gut the legislation . The changes proposed by the European Commission are part of a drive to simplify a slew of laws adopted in recent years on technology, environmental and financial issues which have in turn faced pushback from companies and the U.S. government.
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> EU antitrust chief Henna Virkkunen will present the Digital Omnibus, in effect proposals to cut red tape and overlapping legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulation, the Artificial Intelligence Act, the e-Privacy Directive and the Data Act, on November 19. According to the plans, Google, Meta Platforms, OpenAI and other tech companies may be allowed to use Europeans' personal data to train their AI models based on legitimate interest.
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> In addition, companies may be exempted from the ban on processing special categories of personal data "in order not to disproportionately hinder the development and operation of AI and taking into account the capabilities of the controller to identify and remove special categories of personal data." [...] The proposals would need to be thrashed out with EU countries and European Parliament in the coming months before they can be implemented.
"The draft Digital Omnibus proposes countless changes to many different articles of the GDPR. In combination this amounts to a death by a thousand cuts," Austrian privacy group noyb said in a statement. "This would be a massive downgrading of Europeans' privacy 10 years after the GDPR was adopted," noyb's Max Schrems said.
"These proposals would change how the EU protects what happens inside your phone, computer and connected devices," European Digital Rights policy advisor Itxaso Dominguez de Olazabal [2]wrote in a LinkedIn post. "That means access to your device could rely on legitimate interest or broad exemptions like security, fraud detection or audience measurement," she said.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/critics-call-proposed-changes-landmark-eu-privacy-law-death-by-thousand-cuts-2025-11-10/
[2] https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7393607122346921984/
Probably necessary changes (Score:1)
Artificial Intelligence Act needs to follow its primary architect and be utterly removed in such a way that brings great shame on any of its defenders.
For those not in the know, it led to its principal creator, everyone's favorite French fascist grandma Thierry Breton get removed from his Commissar post by a German with... French support.
It was an utterly unprecedented scandal within EU, which is generally built on careful balance of Franco-German relations. For French to actually allow Germans to throw out
Whatever they want ? (Score:2)
According to the plans, Google, Meta Platforms, OpenAI and other tech companies may be allowed to use Europeans' personal dataâ¦. Seriously ? American companies have the right to do whatever they want? And get the information for free?
Hahahahahahahaha! (This to satisfy /. anti-spam) (Score:2)
> ... legitimate interest.
Who decides when the interest is "legitimate"? To put it another way: Which amoral money-grabbing entity will demand it stop its own prolific copyright piracy and data rape?
Vain hopes (Score:2)
For whatever reason, some EU politicians think that enshittifying the union's principles and law frameworks will help the EU regain competitiveness. Fat chance.
Re: Vain hopes (Score:2)
Sounds about right. It feels like an arms race, and Europe feels they must play along to not miss out on the perceived benefits.
One wonders however what if the AI bubble bursts before Europe really starts to implement the policies? They might come out ahead in many ways.
It's how we do it in America (Score:2)
You don't just take away privacy or decent wages or job security or healthcare all at once. You got to boil that frog.
Here in America it took us 65 years. This whole mess we're in started when Barry Goldwater lost. The corporate wing of the Republican party formed in alliance with the racists and the religious extremists. We were explicitly warned about it but we ignored the warnings.
Re: (Score:2)
> You don't just take away privacy or decent wages or job security or healthcare all at once. You got to boil that frog.
> Here in America it took us 65 years. This whole mess we're in started when Barry Goldwater lost. The corporate wing of the Republican party formed in alliance with the racists and the religious extremists. We were explicitly warned about it but we ignored the warnings.
That's one narrative you can tell. Another would be that the Republican party really only thrives when their candidates are brazenly corrupt and immoral. There's a fundamental dishonesty to candidates like Goldwater, Ford, Bush Sr., Dole, McCain, and Romney, who feel duty-bound to pretend to be moral while pushing the same aristocratic bullshit as Nixon, Reagan, Bush Jr., and Trump. I would argue that the latter were much more successful because of their shamelessness.
Constantly morphing coalitions consisti
Re: (Score:2)
Germany is illegal in Germany.
Sorry for the offtopic post (Score:3)
But it looks like slashdot has a new annoying add that moves up from the bottom of the screen to get your attention and obscures content until you interact with it. I see no option to disable this.
In short: I hate it.
Re: Sorry for the offtopic post (Score:2)
Bump. Me too.
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Me 3
mongodb or something? (Score:1)
Yeah, just noticed that today in a ./ post.
I also didn't like it.
Re: (Score:2)
"a.fsdn.com/con/img/floating-ad-unit-306-298.png"
Blocking fsdn with Noscript makes it go away but has other effects on functionailty.
Re: (Score:3)
It's a text-based ad with discreet colors. It's one I'm fine with. I take that over the 24bpp colour blinking banners for stupid online games or random crap I never wanted to know existed.
Re: (Score:2)
The fix [1]https://slashdot.org/comments.... [slashdot.org]
[1] https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=23842434&cid=65786698
Re: (Score:2)
CmdrTaco's ghost gave me a lifetime ad-free slashdot experience. Thanks slashdot!