Proposals for artificial intelligence to use Europeans’ personal data would be “essentially a free for all” for tech giants, a digital rights group has said.
It has been reported that the European Commission has put forward proposals to ease regulations for the use of personal data for AI systems.
This includes the processing of personal data in the context of the development and operation of an AI system for a “legitimate interest”.
The proposal is reported to be with the Council of the European Union, of which Ireland currently holds the presidency.
A European group promoting the protection and enforcement of GDPR has criticised the draft wording as promoting the commercial interests of companies over a fundamental right to data protection.
Max Schrems, the founder of digital rights organisation NOYB, said: “This is nothing short of the ‘digital expropriation’ of Europeans.
“Everything we have ever entered into digital systems, or that AI corporations have otherwise obtained, becomes fair game for AI corporations to use.”
He added: “This legislative change primarily benefits the big players, those who have collected massive amounts of European’s data.
“This is a complete sell-off of European data to global corporations. It would also result in a large amount of know-how flowing from EU companies to the US or China. From an industrial policy perspective, such an approach is madness.”
The Irish Council of Civil Liberties has described the reported draft amendments as “insanity”.
Dr Johnny Ryan, director of the ICCL’s Enforce unit, criticised the existing levels of enforcement of GDPR law but said the draft amendments would largely remove safeguards that are supposed to be in place.
Elsewhere on Monday, Tánaiste Simon Harris said there was a need to “balance technological advancement with the rights of citizens to privacy.”
Asked if the Irish presidency was prioritising AI innovation over the privacy of citizens, Mr Harris said: “AI cannot be self-regulatory, and I do think some significant consideration should be given to the thoughts being put forward by the likes of (Canadian Prime Minister) Mark Carney in relation to how a global agency could perhaps come forward and begin to look at some of these issues.”
Mr Carney has suggested the creation of a global body to oversee AI regulation.
Mr Harris continued: “We’re on the cusp of – if not living through – the largest technological revolution in the history of the world, and the pace of change is like nothing any of us have ever experienced before.
“And there are always balances to be gotten right in relation to that – but I think those balances can be gotten right.
“If anything, Europe has probably been on the more strict and severe end when it comes to data protection versus other parts of the world.
“I don’t have any particular difficulty with that, but I think we need to get the balance right.”
He added: “Sometimes in Europe, the first the first question is ‘how do I regulate it?’. Maybe the first question is to be ‘what are we trying to do here?’.
“What’s the end game here? Is it improving our public services? Is it being able to use technologies to find cancers and diseases that haven’t been found before?
“So there’s good that can come from this, but as we’re learning with social media, as an example, things can’t be the wild west and they can’t be self-regulatory.”
However, Dr Ryan said Ireland already holds responsibility in Europe for enforcing GDPR in relation to tech companies based here.
He told the Press Association it is “not appropriate” to propose some new “fantastical” future global regime for regulation to address concerns existing today.
“Parents are terrified of what their kids are seeing on their feeds.
“CEOs are saying they’re worried and ‘slow us down’.
“This is saying ‘let’s have essentially a free for all and hand big tech a free pass by removing safeguards’.”
