The Laying Down Of Harmonised Rules On Artificial Intelligence - Privacy - European Union

Earlier this year, the EU Commission tabled a Proposal of the European Parliament and Council on the Artificial Intelligence Act ("Proposal" or the "Act") a brief summary of which can be accessed through our website. The Proposal was recently scrutinised by the European Data Protection Board ("EDPB") and the European Data Protection Supervisor ("EDPS") in a joint opinion issued on the 18th of June 2021 ("Joint Opinion"). In this Joint Opinion the EDPB and EDPS, whilst acknowledging the Commission's initiative to extend the use of Artificial Intelligence Systems ("AI Systems") throughout the Member States, rejected a few of the tabled proposals. Of particular interest, in the Joint Opinion the EDPB and EDPS delves into the interaction between the EU Data Protection Law and the provisions of the Proposal. The EDPB and EDPS highlight the importance that the two frameworks to be complementary to each other and advised that any inconsistency or conflict should be eradicated as the lack of harmonisation could lead to directly or indirectly put the fundamental right to the protection of personal data at risk.