Tech Brief - Noyb files complaints against EU Parliament, civil society criticises Breton’s DSA approach

Welcome to Euractiv’s Tech Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. We’re back from the summer break, so let’s dive into the most important news from the summer and this week. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.

“As an EU citizen, it is worrying that EU institutions are still so vulnerable to attacks.”

– said Max Schrems, activist and chairman of Noyb, regarding the filing of complaints against the European Parliament.

Story of the week: Following a major breach of the European Parliament’s recruitment system in April, when sensitive personal information was exposed, digital rights NGO Noyb filed two legal complaints for alleged data protection law violations, against the EU institute. Noyb, the European Center for Digital Rights, filed the complaints with the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) on behalf of four Parliament employees, noting that the data of more than 8,000 staff was affected, including the data of former employees. Read more.

Don’t miss: Civil society groups and academics have criticised the European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton’s letter to X owner, Elon Musk, arguing that it misinterprets the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and threatens free expression. The open letters sent by civil society organisations, scholars, and academics to Breton, express concern about his comments regarding Elon Musk’s actions relating to content on X. A Commission spokesperson stated that they do not comment on letters but stated that an investigation into the compliance of X to the DSA is still ongoing. Read more.

Also this week:

Highlights from the summer break:

Before we start: If you can’t get enough tech analysis, tune in on our weekly podcast:

OpenAI opposes landmark California AI bill, Democrat legislators are divided. OpenAI opposes California’s SB 1047 AI bill that would regulate the largest AI models deployed in California. It sent a letter to Californian Democrat Senator Scott Wiener, to which the Senator replied on Wednesday, explaining he believes the Californian bill is essential considering the US Congress’s inaction on AI regulation, and mentioning that SB 1047 has received support from security experts. Last week, Congress democrats including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged California Governor Gavin Newsom to veto the bill.

AI boom profits some European industrial giants. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the artificial intelligence boom is driving the growth of European companies providing data centre infrastructure, including producers of cooling technologies, server racks, and electrical equipment. Swedish-Swiss electrification company ABB Ltd, French electronic company Legrand SA, German tech conglomerate Siemens AG, and French digital automation and energy management Schneider Electric SE have seen a surge in their orders.

Trump shares AI-generated deepfakes of Taylor Swift. On Sunday, the Republican candidate for the US presidency Donald Trump, posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, images depicting Taylor Swift and her fans supposedly supporting his candidacy. Yet, the singer has not endorsed any candidate in the 2024 election. According to TIME, at least one of the pictures is real, but there is no evidence that “a significant number of fans of Swift” are supporting the former US President.

Tech industry groups asked to extend the deadline to contribute to the general-purpose AI Code of Practice. On 8 August, a group of 11 tech industry associations asked the European Commission to extend the September deadline for submitting views on a Code of Practice on general-purpose artificial intelligence (GPAI). The AI Office has now extended the deadline from September 10 to September 18. Read more.

OpenAI sitting on a tool to watermark AI-generated content. On 4 August, the Wall Street Journal quoted sources saying that OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has developed a text watermarking tool that could help it comply with the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, but the company has yet to release it, reportedly because it fears losing users. Read more.

EU Commission opened stakeholder participation in drafting a general-purpose AI code of practice. On 30 July, the European Commission issued a call to stakeholders to participate in drafting a code of practice for general-purpose artificial intelligence (GPAI), a key part of compliance with the AI Act for deployers of technology like ChatGPT. Read more.

Von der Leyen gives nod to €100 billion ‘CERN for AI’ proposal. Re-elected European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s political guidelines addressed calls for huge artificial intelligence (AI) research investments under the “CERN for AI” banner, but proponents and critics say the plan is lacking crucial details. Read more.

Parliament set up a cross-committee working group to monitor AI Act implementation. On 25 July, Euractiv reported that two of the European Parliament’s committees have set up a joint working group to monitor the implementation of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, according to two people familiar with the matter. Read more.

Meta released its most powerful open AI model yet, possibly the last to be released in Europe. On 23 July, Meta released their flagship text-only model Llama 3.1, the best-performing open-source artificial intelligence model so far, which may very well be the company’s last one available to EU users. Read more.

The US, UK, and EU shared views on competition in AI development. On 23 July, the UK, US, and EU competition authorities specified common fair competition principles on foundation artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT but did not commit to joint action. Read more.

UK regulator closes app store probe, but new rules could lead to renewed scrutiny of big tech. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority closed its investigation into Google and Apple app stores on Wednesday, but new laws that would give it more power to control the dominance of big tech companies could ensure that scrutiny continues. Read more.

UK competition authority launched a merger inquiry into the Amazon-Anthropic partnership. On 8 August, the UK’s competition watchdog has formally opened an investigation into the merger between Amazon and AI company Anthropic. Read more.

European Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation into Delivery Hero and Glovo. On 23 July, the European Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation into food delivery apps Delivery Hero and Glovo, examining whether the two are participating in a cartel. Read more.

UN approved landmark controversial cybercrime treaty. On 8 August, the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime approved a first-ever treaty aimed at combating cybercrime, a controversial text opposed by digital rights organisations and big tech companies. Read more.

European Commission opposes amending GDPR, focusing on enforcement instead. The European Commission does not plan to reopen the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), instead focusing on enforcement, as privacy in the age of artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly controversial. Read more.

Meta’s revised commitments on ad data use gets the green light from UK authority. On Tuesday, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority approved changes to Meta’s commitments regarding how it uses the data from customers using advertising, the authority announced. Read more.

X hit with nine data protection complaints after announcing it will partially suspend data processing for AI training. On 12 August, X was hit with nine data protection complaints across Europe, just days after it said it would suspend the processing of some EU users’ personal data to develop artificial intelligence. Read more.

X suspended the processing of some personal data for AI training. Following the court filing on 6 August, social media giant X suspended the processing of some personal data from EU users’ public posts to train AI models, two days after the Irish Data Protection Commission launched court proceedings over the practice. Read more.

Irish privacy watchdog took X to court over data processing for AI training. On 6 August, the Irish Data Protection Commission initiated court proceedings against the social media platform X. Read more.

X slammed with data privacy complaint over AI training. On 5 August, consumer organisations alleged X’s artificial intelligence tool violated the General Data Protection Regulation in a complaint filed with the Irish Data Protection Commission. Read more.

New Noyb lawsuit says Hamburg data watchdog acted as a lawyer for German newspaper. On 1 August, Noyb sued the Hamburg data protection authority in a bid to overturn its recent decision that the German newspaper Der Spiegel’s “pay or okay” model was lawful, arguing that the DPA gave the newspaper legal advice in a previous case. Read more.

EU Commission’s GDPR review finds enforcement issues. On 25 July, the European Commission found serious enforcement issues with the General Data Protection Regulation and called for clearer guidelines to strengthen data protection across member states. Read more.

US aligned with EU on Google antitrust case, hinting at enforcement measures. Following the recent US court ruling on Google’s market dominance, Washington may be aligning more closely with the Brussels approach to tech competition regulation, hinting at possible enforcement measures. Read more.

Apple’s DMA updates. By the end of 2024, Apple should implement changes to the browser choice screen, default apps, and app deletion for iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 users in the EU, in response to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the tech giant announced on Thursday. These updates include providing browser developers with more information and data access, introducing a new default apps section in Settings, and allowing the deletion of core apps like the App Store, Messages, and Safari, Apple said in a statement. These measures come after the Commission found in June that Apple was in breach of the DMA, which could lead to a fine of up to 10% of Apple’s global annual turnover, should the US phone maker fail to comply.

EU Commission sought details from Meta on data access and election monitoring. On 1 August, the European Commission sent a request for information to Meta under the Digital Services Act, seeking details on compliance with data access and election monitoring requirements. Read more.

EU Commissioner Breton reminded X owner Musk of EU digital rulebook compliance ahead of the Trump debate. On 12 August, Commissioner Thierry Breton urged Elon Musk to ensure X adheres to EU regulations and effectively moderates content, ahead of Musk’s planned live-streamed debate with US presidential candidate Donald Trump. Read more.

How X’s handling of UK riots could influence the ongoing EU probe into the platform. On 9 August, a Commission spokesperson said that the ongoing European Commission investigation into social media platform X could be influenced by the platform’s handling of content related to riots in the UK. Read more.

European Commission pushed for DSA enforcement tools. On 29 July, the European Commission pushed for better enforcement tools for the Digital Services Act, the EU’s landmark content moderation law, including provisions on protection of minors, regulation of influencers, and addictive design. Read more.

EU Commission urged six member states to appoint authorities for DSA enforcement. On 26 July, the European Commission initiated infringement procedures for Belgium, Spain, Croatia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden, asking them to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). Read more.

The who’s who of the Parliament’s tech committees. Many familiar faces are returning to the European Parliament’s committees that deal with tech policies, but several key figures have also left the Parliament or the committees. Read more.

Macron named von der Leyen’s foe Thierry Breton for a second term as EU commissioner. On 26 July, France’s President Emmanuel Macron proposed incumbent EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton for a second five-year term in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Read more.

TikTok Lite suspended permanently Rewards Program in EU, closing Commission investigation over addictive effects. On 5 August, the Commission announced that TikTok can no longer launch rewards programmes for its EU users. Read more.

Pornhub challenged natural names disclosure under digital rules at Europe’s highest court. On 26 July, Euractiv reported that Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company, was appealing to the Court of Justice of the European Union to avoid having to disclose the natural names of users in its ad repository, as required by its Digital Services Act designation. Read more.

TikTok was fined by Ofcom for breaching information requests on parental controls. On 24 July, the UK’s broadcast and telecoms regulator Ofcom fined the social media platform TikTok £1.875 million (€2.23 million) for not providing accurate information about its parental controls. Read more.

Consumer authorities and the EU Commission raised concerns about Meta’s ‘pay or OK’ model. On 22 July, according to a Commission press release, Euractiv reported that tensions between Meta and the EU intensified with the European Commission and European consumer authorities saying the US tech giant may be breaching consumer protection law with its “pay or OK” model. Read more.

Von der Leyen rings in chipmaker plant. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen doubled down on EU efforts to turbo-charge the bloc’s domestic semiconductor production by attending the official groundbreaking ceremony for Taiwanese firm TSMC’s Dresden plant on Tuesday – after the institution she heads greenlighted a €5 billion state aid scheme for the facility. Read more.

Telecoms stakeholders urge Breton to reconsider some stances in light of Commission appointment. Telecom industry stakeholders have called on incumbent Commissioner Thierry Breton, to reconsider some of his previous stances in light of his potential reappointment for the 2024-2029 term. Read more.

As Germany struggles to improve its economy, it decided to go on a Gigabit offensive. On 23 July, the German government decided to go on a telecom spending spree with a new telecom law, seemingly against industry stakeholders’ views and its own decision to tighten the purse strings. Read more.

Fair share debate broils in India. US tech giant and Indian telcos are fighting over regulation of internet services and a senders-pay principle, reported TechCrunch on Tuesday. The debate uses similar talking points as the debate that happened in the EU.

[Edited by Rajnish Singh]

Thanks for reading. Be sure to spread the word and come and say hello on X.