European Data Protection Board opinion addresses key aspects of AI models
13 January 25
Javier Huerta Bravo
The aspects addressed include when an AI model can be considered anonymous and when the legitimate interest of the AI model developer or a third party can be an appropriate legal basis for the processing of personal data. The opinion also deals with the impact of unlawful processing of data in the development phase of the model on its subsequent use.
Data Governance Act: European Commission moves forward with infringement procedures against ten countries
13 January 25
Miljana Todorovic
Austria, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia have not designated or empowered competent authorities to implement the act according to the EU executive.
French data protection authority imposes record fine on Orange for unlawfully displaying ads between e-mails
19 December 24
Elisar Bashir
The French telecom operator failed to obtain users’ consent to display advertising e-mails in its Mail Orange service. Orange further failed to consider the withdrawal of consent for cookies by users of its website. In both cases Orange breached provisions of the e-Privacy Directive as implemented in France.
Diverging views on proposed AI liability directive expressed in European Parliament lead committee discussion
17 December 24
Elisar Bashir
Members of the Legal Affairs committee disagreed on both the need for EU harmonised rules for non-contractual civil liability (i.e. fault-based liability for damages) and the level of harmonisation (minimum or full).
EU Data Act: update on model contractual clauses on switching cloud providers and access to data generated by connected devices
16 December 24
Miljana Todorovic
The European Commission must adopt standard contractual clauses for cloud computing contracts and model contractual terms for data sharing by 12 September 2025, when most provisions of the EU Data Act will begin to apply. The Commission hosted six webinars in November and December 2024 to gather feedback from stakeholders on the draft versions.
EU Digital & Media Weekly Report
15 December 24
Miljana Todorovic
This report gathers policy and regulatory developments at EU level covered by Cullen International’s Digital Economy and Media services during last week. It also lists events taking place this week. This is the last EU Digital & Media Weekly Report before 2025, when discussions in Brussels around the different policy and regulatory initiatives will resume after the end-of-year holiday period.