EU Privacy Overhaul Sparks Concerns Over Big Tech Data Exploitation
Privacy activists are sounding alarms as proposed EU regulatory changes threaten to dismantle hard-won data protections. The revisions, framed by the European Commission as bureaucratic simplification, could grant tech giants unprecedented freedom to harvest personal information for AI training under "legitimate interest" clauses—a stark departure from GDPR's consent-based framework.
Max Schrems, the Austrian lawyer who shaped Europe's privacy landscape, condemns the amendments as a "massive downgrading" of citizen rights. Meanwhile, cookie regulations face consolidation into GDPR, potentially streamlining the contentious pop-up ecosystem that defines modern web browsing.
The move comes amid sustained industry pressure, with tech firms decrying existing rules as innovation-stifling. NOYB and other watchdogs warn of "death by a thousand cuts" to digital privacy—a concerning development for cryptocurrency users whose transactions often rely on pseudonymous data protections.
