Amnesty Tech has strongly criticized the European Commission’s proposed “digital omnibus” measures, warning that they could dismantle key protections against digital threats across the EU. Damini Satija, Programme Director at Amnesty Tech, emphasized that these proposals risk weakening people’s rights, enabling unlawful surveillance, discriminatory profiling in welfare and policing, and undermining individuals’ control over personal data and automated decision-making. The proposals could also make it more difficult to challenge AI-driven determinations affecting social benefits, employment, and educational opportunities, while further entrenching climate harms fueled by policies favoring the tech industry.
Satija highlighted that years of advocacy by civil society, trade unions, and human rights defenders have gone into establishing the EU’s digital rulebook, which safeguards people against unfair AI systems, protects personal data, and holds governments and corporations accountable for technology misuse. These protections, she noted, are critical for ensuring a digitally safe society, yet some have not even come into effect when the EU is already moving to shift the balance toward corporate interests.
Amnesty Tech called for the EU to focus on strengthening and enforcing existing digital safeguards, including the AI Act and GDPR, rather than dismantling the frameworks that protect citizens. Satija stressed that meaningful implementation of these laws is essential for advancing a rights-respecting technology environment across Europe.
