Some good news on #DigitalOmnibus (data part).
The Council Presidency draft compromise text strikes the redefinition of personal data, deletes new Art 41a that would have let the Commission redefine pseudonymised data via implementing acts, removes the Art 22 overhaul, and tightens risky AI and biometric carve-outs.
So-called ‘simplification’ faced scrutiny. Democratic lawmaking still matters when the scope of fundamental rights is at stake.
Might 2026 be remembered as the year when turning fundamental rights into tradable assets is presented as ‘sensible digital policy’?
This ‘piece’ explains that personal data markets would create value, fairness and choice… But when access to services depends on whether you sell more of your data, and human rights (because it's about the rights NOT about the data) become commodities, that is not empowerment but monetised asymmetry and a pathway to (if I may) hell.
https://www.bruegel.org/sites/default/files/2026-02/WP%2002%202026.pdf
Among users initially on a chronological feed, 7 weeks of exposure to X’s algorithmic feed in 2023 shifted political attitudes and account-following behaviour in a more conservative direction compared with those remaining on a chronological feed, whereas switching the feed setting in the opposite direction, from algorithmic to chronological, had no effect.
Politicians: algorithms are opaque and shape democracy. We need transparency.
Also politicians: let’s deregulate AI and data protection rules to boost competitiveness.
3/ 🔜 This decision sends a first clear signal that engagement-driven design constitute a systemic risk, an issue we look forward to seeing addressed in the upcoming #DFA.
Fairness must be embedded by default in all digital products & services, ensuring protection for society as a whole. It must be measurable, enforceable & structural across the digital environment, complementing the DSA and closing gaps that systemic design risks currently leave unaddressed.
The European Commission closed its Call for Evidence for the upcoming Digital Fairness Act (DFA) on 24 October 2025. EDRi urged the Commission to tackle deeply harmful forms of manipulation: addictive design, deceptive design, and unfair personalisation, which undermine people’s fundamental rights to privacy, data protection, autonomy and equality.
2/ The Commission's findings highlight a long-standing concern: engagement-optimised design comes at the expense of users’ physical and mental well-being and can pose grave risks to democracy and public debate.
🛑 According to the Commission, features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalised recommender systems were not adequately assessed by TikTok, and existing risk mitigation measures were found to be insufficient.
1/ 🚨 On Friday, the @European Commission preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the #DSA due to the addictive design of its platform.
🎉 We welcome this decision: the DSA was designed precisely to address systemic risks of this kind, and this case has the potential to push platforms to rethink fundamental design choices rather than rely on easy but ineffective quick fixes.
RE: https://ec.social-network.europa.eu/@EUCommission/116033961571578109
Deregulation of our fundamental rights. Winter sport, summer sport, somehow still ongoing.
Alderik
EDRi