The European Commission withdrew two controversial pieces of legislation from its 2025 work program, bringing cheers Wednesday from the tech sector as a consumer group jeered.
The European Commission and U.K. Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) are responding cautiously to questions about the implications for trans-Atlantic data flows of reports that Elon Musk is accessing the personal data of millions of Americans. However, the Danish Data Protection Authority (DPA) recently warned businesses that the activities of the Trump Administration could threaten the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF).
The European Commission hasn't taken formal steps under the AI Act (AIA) concerning the DeepSeek AI chatbot, an EC spokesperson told us. However, several EU data protection authorities (DPAs) are probing whether DeepSeek has complied with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Poland wants closer ties with the ITU as the nation begins its EU Council presidency (Jan. 1 - June 30), Secretary of State Michal Gramatyka, Ministry for Digital Affairs, said at the recent Data Protection Day conference in Brussels. This initiative has implications for privacy and data protection issues and policies, Gramatyka wrote in an email Friday.
The Council of Europe has begun work on data protection and neurotechnology guidelines, which it expects to complete in around two years, sources told us. The interplay between neurotechnology and data protection is important given the growing use of the technology beyond the medical sphere, speakers said at a Data Protection Day conference in Brussels on Tuesday.
The European Court of Justice's General Court ruled Wednesday that the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) acted unlawfully when it refused to investigate a complaint from Noyb, the Austrian privacy organization. The ruling was issued in Data Protection Commission v. European Data Protection Board (joined cases T‑70/23, T‑84/23 and T‑111/23).
Despite financial pressure, geopolitical instability, more data protection rules and other challenges, the privacy profession continues demonstrating "an extraordinary capacity for adaption and resilience," the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) said in a report published Tuesday. Nine of 10 companies responding to this year's survey said they feel at least somewhat confident about their privacy governance program, it said.
European collaboration with the U.S. on privacy issues is going to be tough, representatives from the European Commission and European Parliament said Tuesday at a Data Protection Day conference in Brussels.
Finding common ground on data protection "remains a challenging task, primarily because privacy is deeply shaped by cultural, legal, and economic contexts," Ginervra Cerrina Feroni, vice-president of Italian privacy watchdog Garante, said in an email. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), for example, is rooted in a fundamental rights-based approach, while frameworks like the Global Cross Border Privacy Rules (CPBR) system emphasize voluntary compliance and flexibility, reflecting different traditions and priorities.
President Donald Trump's reported decision to fire the three Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) is raising concerns about the future of the hard-won trans-Atlantic data privacy framework (DPF), privacy experts said. It's not yet clear what impact Trump's Executive Order might have, however, and the European Commission is monitoring the situation, it said.