The European Union's proposed amendments to data protection law have provoked fierce criticism from privacy advocacy group noyb, led by Austrian lawyer Max Schrems, who argue the changes represent an abandonment of fundamental privacy principles. The Commission's modifications to GDPR would permit technology companies to process personal data collected over decades for AI development and operation as "legitimate interests," requiring no user consent and potentially exposing millions of Europeans' historical data to corporate use without their knowledge.

The amendments to Article 88c (proposed to be renamed Article 88bis) would automatically grant large technology firms an overriding "legitimate interest" claim whenever training or using any AI product, the group contends. Schrems characterised this as "digital expropriation," arguing that the interests of companies like Google, Meta and OpenAI would be prioritised over Europeans' constitutional right to data protection. Noyb, which previously succeeded in dismantling the Safe Harbor Agreement (2015) and the EU-US Privacy Shield (2020) through the European Court of Justice, indicated it may pursue legal challenge as the only remaining option to prevent the dilution of data protection law.