Social democrats lay down red lines on revamping EU’s digital rulebook

The Parliament’s social democrats have aired grievances on the leaked draft digital omnibus in a letter addressed to Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen that was made public on Tuesday – warning they would oppose several of the proposed changes which they argue could undermine fundamental rights.  

The Commission is due to present a package of changes to the bloc’s digital laws next week. Euractiv obtained draft revisions of privacy and artificial intelligence rules last week which point to substantial changes in the works. 

Per the letter, certain proposed amendments to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ePrivacy Directive are a major red line for the political group – which suggests the deregulatory plan would run counter to the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The letter also points to recent geo-location data scandals to underscore the importance of privacy laws. 

Among the group’s chief concerns are the “watering down” of the definition of personal data and the weakening of protections for sensitive data – proposed changes which the letter suggests would narrow the scope of the bloc’s flagship privacy law so extensively as to mean the GDPR may not apply to anything. 

The group also warns that the proposed changes risk opening the door to “discriminatory profiling and the commercialisation of intimate personal inferences”. 

Similarly, S&D MEPs write that they are “profoundly alarmed” by amendments to the ePrivacy Directive – the law governing online tracking technologies like cookies – which they fear would create a “free-for-all” for the adtech industry.

Regarding the EU’s non-personal data laws, such as the Data Act and Data Governance Act, the group also worries that the proposed amendments would increase compliance complexity while failing to respect the specificities of each law.  

The group also writes that it is “firmly opposed” to delaying the AI Act’s rules for high-risk systems, a change that some capitals and lobby groups have been loudly calling for in recent months.  

MEPs also say they are very concerned about proposed changes that could allow providers of non-high risk AI systems not to have to register their systems in an EU database before placing them on the market. 

(nl)