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Europe has long been a global leader when it comes to regulating big tech companies, but it is now considering changes that would weaken its landmark privacy legislation, the General Data Protection Regulation, also known as… General Data Protection Regulation.
In a move aimed at opening up access to essential AI data across the region, the European Commission on Wednesday published proposals for a “Digital Simplification Strategy.” These proposals include rolling back some GDPR protections, including simplifying cookie permissions pop-ups and delaying the introduction of artificial intelligence Systems.
Europe introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018. It was designed to give European citizens more knowledge, control, and power over who can access and use their personal data. The regulation has continued to guide the development of similar laws elsewhere in the world, including privacy legislation in California.
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The European Union has been at the forefront when it comes to regulating technology, but at the same time no serious competitors have emerged from within Europe to rival AI companies outside the US and China. The bloc has been under pressure from US technology companies and the Trump administration to reduce the regulatory burdens it faces in the region.
In the United States, the White House has been pushing hard for the unrestricted development of artificial intelligence technologies. Over the summer she unveiled the National Artificial intelligence business planWhich called for, among other things, the removal of red tape and “burdensome regulation.”
In a press releaseHina Virkonen, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for technology sovereignty, described the proposed changes to the GDPR as a “facelift with targeted adjustments… that reflect how technology is evolving.” She added that the aim of these measures is to encourage the development of artificial intelligence.
An “attack” on European rights?
As the Commission noted in its proposal on Wednesday, Member States consider the GDPR to be effective and balanced legislation. It frames the proposed changes as a way to “harmonize, clarify and simplify” application of the regulation.
European privacy activists see it differently. “This is the biggest attack on digital rights in Europe in years,” the Austrian privacy activist said. Max Schremswhich famously took legal action against Meta (aka Facebook) over privacy violations. “When the Commission states that it ‘maintains the highest standards’, it is clearly incorrect. It proposes to undermine these standards.”
Some activists worry that the proposed changes to the GDPR are a sign that the EU is kowtowing to Big Tech. Johnny Ryan, director of the enforcement unit at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, said the changes were unlikely to allow Europe to start challenging the dominance of the US and China when it comes to artificial intelligence.
He said, “Today’s European Commission proposal to review the General Data Protection Regulation will strengthen the dominance of American and Chinese digital giants, and harm European startups and (small and medium-sized enterprises).” “Europe’s problem is not that it has too many rules around data and AI, but that it over-inflates these rules and then neglects to implement them.”
According to Schrems, the proposed reform of the GDPR appears to be designed primarily to remove obstacles that might prevent AI companies from using personal data for AI.
“AI may be one of the most influential and dangerous technologies for our democracy and society,” he said. “However, the ‘AI race’ narrative has led politicians to throw protections out the window that should have completely protected us from having all our data fed into a big, opaque algorithm.”