Council of the EU Must Prevent GDPR Changes From Eroding Privacy Rights, EPIC, Coalition Urge

On Friday, EPIC joined a coalition of more than 20 civil society organizations led by Check My Ads to urge the Council of the EU to reconsider the European Commission’s proposed changes to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

The proposal, known as the Digital Omnibus, has been framed as an effort to simplify the EU’s digital legislative framework. However, its measures go far beyond simplification and would significantly erode consumers’ fundamental privacy rights.  

“Simplification cannot mean weaker transparency, weaker access rights, weaker protection for sensitive data, weaker complaint mechanisms, or weaker accountability for automated decision-making,” the coalition letter reads.  

EPIC and its partners encourage the Council to keep ePrivacy and the GDPR distinct, preserve automated privacy signals, prevent the revival of deleted provisions, and reject any further deregulations. 

“A deregulatory race to the bottom will not make Europe more competitive. It will strengthen the actors that already dominate through scale, opacity, and data extraction, while leaving European businesses that try to comply on even less equal terms,” the letter reads. “Europe’s digital sovereignty requires rules that make people’s choices effective, enable enforcement, and allow rights-respecting businesses to compete fairly.” 

EPIC’s international work promotes privacy, data protection, and open government laws and policies globally.