Is this the end of privacy in the EU?
Is the pace of GDPR’s removal set in stone if so at least slowly — for the AI race?
Politico has reported this on something that many cybersecurity experts feared: European policymakers are starting to contemplate far-reaching rollbacks to GDPR protections to speed up the development of AI.
Draft proposals for the forthcoming Digital Omnibus Package have plans to add sweeping exemptions that would enable AI companies to process special category data — information about political views, religious beliefs, health information and ethnicity — purely to train and operate their models.
If implemented, this means:
Once heavily guarded, the same data may no longer be in GDPR’s exclusive and comprehensive range.
AI developers could use sensitive personal data at scale and still access it legally.
Websites may be freed to track users beyond the current consent standards.
A pillar of European digital rights might be undermined to “slash red tape” and “turbocharge the AI economy”.
The thing is, this is not fringe musings.
Even members of the original GDPR architects are openly cautioning that this might turn into such a serious breach of fundamental rights that are covered in the EU Charter.
What’s so remarkable is how quickly global perceptions of privacy are evolving. AI has changed the discourse. And then the question is suddenly not How do we protect citizens’ data?
It’s turning to itself: How do we feed AI models more data? This is a turning moment. As someone who is in data protection, risk management, and governance every day, I know the balancing act of innovation and compliance. But trading privacy to power AI growth constitutes a risky precedent — one that other areas may not hesitate to copy.
If special category data becomes fair game today what prevents the next step?
📌 AI should not come at the cost of individuals’ rights.
📌 Innovation should be based on trust, transparency and ethical use of data.
📌 The concept of privacy itself is still foundational – not an option. I’m genuinely curious: Do you believe scaling AI justifies loosening privacy laws? Or is Europe just on a road it may regret later?