The Digital Omnibus: A step back from the brink, but the risks remain
A first Council compromise on the Digital Omnibus removes several of the most dangerous changes that were originally proposed to the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive. This is a welcome development, however, important risks remain. Some amendments could still weaken safeguards in practice, while new provisions on AI development and access to terminal equipment remain unresolved. Simplification should strengthen rights, not dilute them. The safest way to protect Europe’s digital rulebook is to reject the Digital Omnibus entirely.
Filter resources
-
The Digital Omnibus: A step back from the brink, but the risks remain
A first Council compromise on the Digital Omnibus removes several of the most dangerous changes that were originally proposed to the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive. This is a welcome development, however, important risks remain. Some amendments could still weaken safeguards in practice, while new provisions on AI development and access to terminal equipment remain unresolved. Simplification should strengthen rights, not dilute them. The safest way to protect Europe’s digital rulebook is to reject the Digital Omnibus entirely.
Read more
-
Fewer rules, more innovation? The miscalculation of the new Brussels
Is European regulation really holding back innovation, or is it a strategic asset that we are about to sell off? This piece debunks the official narrative of a European Commission that claims to be “learning to regulate better”. Through incisive analysis, it warns that the fear of falling behind in the artificial intelligence race is pushing Brussels to sacrifice fundamental rights in the name of a misunderstood competitiveness.
Read more
-
The eID Wallet still doesn’t deserve your full trust
Despite its imminent deployment, the EU’s new eID Wallet is not yet fit for purpose in terms of safeguarding the rights of its users. EDRi and nine CSOs urge the European Commission to amend the draft implementing acts to ensure that users cannot be tracked, forced to share sensitive data nor to provide their legal identity where this is not required by law.
Read more
-
Outsourcing crime control: How EU anti-money laundering rules threaten financial privacy
Privacy First is drawing attention to the risks to financial privacy and fundament rights arising from the European Union’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) framework. Over the past decade, the EU has increasingly shifted the responsibility of detecting financial crime from public authorities to banks, bookkeepers and other companies (called“obliged entities”). With a completely revised AML Package set to enter into force in mid-2027, this system will expand further, turning ordinary citizens and civil society organisations into subjects of systems of financial surveillance.
Read more
-
Chat Control is in the final stretch – but it could be a marathon, not a sprint
With final negotiations on the controversial CSA Regulation underway, you’d be forgiven for thinking that our digital rights are out of the woods. However, even though the recently-agreed position of EU Member States is a cautiously optimistic step, we are still far from a final deal. Perhaps the most worrying issue that remains is the threat of age verification becoming mandatory across all digital methods of private communication – a hugely disproportionate limitation on our privacy and free speech.
Read more
-
US pressure on the Digital Services Act in the Netherlands
On 3 February 2026, the United States House Committee on the Judiciary launched a report in which EDRi member Bits of Freedom and Justice for Prosperity, among others, are called "censorous NGOs". In response, Bits of Freedom and Justice for Prosperity are issuing the following statement.
Read more
-
Reopening GDPR and ePrivacy through the Digital Omnibus: a risky path for EU digital rights
EDRi has assessed the Digital Omnibus proposals affecting the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the ePrivacy framework. While presented as simplification, the changes amount to deregulation in effect, weakening fundamental rights safeguards, increasing legal uncertainty, and advancing through a process that falls short of democratic lawmaking standards.
Read more
-
EDRi’s 2025 in review: we resisted, we persisted
As for most civil society organisations, 2025 was a tumultuous and challenging year for EDRi. Shifting political landscapes and shrinking civic space have made the work of civil society in Europe and around the world increasingly difficult for years . Yet we have nevertheless found many reasons to hope, celebrate, resist and persist.
Read more
-
How Danes je nov dan helped stop dangerous spyware in Slovenia
EDRi affiliate Danes je nov dan launched a multi-faceted campaign in response to a government proposal that would allow the Slovene Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA) to use invasive spyware and mass surveillance tools under the guise of “national security”. By combining a satirical online tool with targeted advocacy towards lawmakers, their efforts helped generate critical pressure needed to stop the legislation from being adopted.
Read more
-
When data relate to us
The EDPS vs. Single Resolution Board judgment goes to the heart of the EU’s fundamental right to data protection, shaping how artificial intelligence, data spaces and so-called privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) will be governed in practice. The ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) arrives at a crucial time to reiterate what counts as personal data, reinforcing the importance of the protection that the GDPR was designed to guarantee.
Read more
-
Europe is dismantling its digital rights from within
The European Commission’s new Digital Omnibus is presented as simple “streamlining”, but in practice it dismantles key safeguards in the GDPR, ePrivacy rules and the AI Act. It would make access to device data easier, weaken limits on automated decision-making and lower protections against discriminatory AI.
Read more
-
Press Release: Commission’s Digital Omnibus is a major rollback of EU digital protections
Today the European Commission has published two Digital Omnibus proposals, reopening the EU’s core protections against harm in the digital age. This step risks dismantling the rules-based system that was hard-won over decades, endangering the very foundation of human rights and tech policy in the EU.
Read more