Dutch and European privacy advocacy groups have slammed proposals by the European Commission to relax rules for the tech sector, saying they represent the biggest rollback of digital rights in the EU’s history.

The proposals, launched by the commission on Wednesday, include reducing the number of cookie notices on websites and making more personal data available for use by artificial intelligence companies.

The proposals still have to be adopted by the European parliament and council and aim to modify rules on data protection (the General Data Protection Regulation), artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity. Together, the commission estimates, they will save €5 billion in administrative costs by 2029.

The changes would allow website and phone users to save cookies preferences through browsers and operating systems settings, reducing the number of consent requests.

But they would also restrict the definition of personal data, allowing its use to train AI systems, while recently adopted rules on high-risk AI systems would be postponed by 16 months.

The commission also plans to set up a single-entry point for companies to report cybersecurity incidents, currently a requirement under different laws.

“Europe’s businesses, from factories to start-ups, will spend less time on administrative work and compliance and more time innovating and scaling-up,” the commission said in a statement.

Alexandre Roure, head of policy at the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which counts Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta among its members, however called for “bolder action”.

“Unprecedented regulatory complexity and legal uncertainty act as a direct tax on Europe’s competitiveness and innovation. Efforts to simplify digital and tech rules cannot stop here,” he said.

Digital rights organisations on the other hand warn that the plan is “the biggest rollback of digital rights” in the EU’s history.

Race, religion and health

Nadia Benaissa, legal policy advisor at Dutch privacy campaign group Bits of Freedom, said they are very concerned about the development. “For example, we see that the ban on the processing of special categories of personal data, such as race, religion, and health data, is being lifted when training AI,” she said.

“The possibility of imposing fines on companies that sell dangerous AI is also being postponed. This is not simplification, but undermining of rules that have just been established through a democratic process.”

GroenLinks-PvdA MEP Kim van Sparrentak was also critical, saying it is “disappointing to see the European Commission cave under the pressure of the Trump administration and Big Tech lobbies”.

Taken together, said the European Digital Rights network (EDRi) “these changes give both state authorities and powerful companies more room to collect and process personal information with limited oversight and reduced transparency”.