September 22, 2026, 1:15 pm | Read time: 2 minutes
A leaked draft from the negotiations on the so-called “Digital Omnibus” is drawing criticism from data protection advocates. The data protection organization “noyb” warns that companies could find it significantly easier to process personal data in the future if it is related to artificial intelligence.
New Legal Basis for AI?
Specifically, it concerns an initiative by the Irish EU Council Presidency. This proposal allows companies to claim a so-called legitimate interest when data is used for training or operating AI systems. In many cases, explicit consent from those affected would no longer be necessary.
According to “noyb” on the official blog, this could affect not only new data. Older information from chats, social networks, or other digital services could also fall under the regulation. Data protection activist Max Schrems refers to this as a potential “digital expropriation” of European users.
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Criticism of the Impact on Competition and Data Protection
Critics say that large platform operators and AI companies, which already have vast data resources, would particularly benefit. European mid-sized companies would gain little advantage. Instead of more competition, the market power of large providers could even grow further.
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Additionally, “noyb” fears that personal data and corporate knowledge could increasingly end up with providers from the U.S. or China through international cloud and AI services.
Nothing Is Decided Yet
The proposal is still in the political decision-making process. Whether the regulation will ultimately be implemented is uncertain. Legal hurdles are also possible. The European Court of Justice has repeatedly limited far-reaching interventions in data protection rights in the past.