Webinar: mastering mobile app compliance and documentation

Want to learn about mobile app reflexes re GDPR + ePrivacy compliance, and fancy hearing about both the legal and technical aspects and how they interact? Watch the recording of the webinar that Thomas Ghys and I gave today (1h). We talk in it about the CNIL recommendations re mobile apps, what regulators are likely […]

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EDPB Guidelines vs. administrative law: a conflict of principles

EDPB vs administrative law: Reading the EDPB’s Pseudonymisation Guidelines once more (for the public consultation), the question of “why?” keeps repeating in my mind. Why use certain wording, why publish the Guidelines now? The list of CJEU judgments the Guidelines contradict is long already (Breyer, Scania, IAB Europe), and now the Advocate General’s Opinion in […]

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Cross-border compliance trends from my recent case law briefing

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of giving a 5h presentation on the latest case law on the GDPR and other data protection legislation at various levels (Belgium, other EU countries, the Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights) to Data Protection Officers from a broad range of organisations and companies. The past […]

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EU AI Act: distinguishing “manipulative” AI from standard adtech

AI-powered adtech = prohibited AI? Interesting perspective, though I have my doubts as to whether the typical adtech-related AI systems we encounter in Europe would be classified as “manipulative” (let alone harmful) under the EU AI Act – once we look at how things work in practice. After all, manipulation and influence are not the […]

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Spotting the irony when privacy critics use dark patterns and trick wording

Wasn’t FOMO manipulation / “trick wording” a darkpattern? Why then do some critics thereof use them? Genuinely curious. Not all do so, far from it (and some of the most prominent ones are very good at *avoiding* such techniques), but it seems that some enjoy labelling everything as “Breaking” (even information that is more than […]

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Relative nature of personal data, consent for pseudonymisation? Dissecting the EDPS v SRB AG Opinion

Understanding what is and is not personal data is fundamental to the proper interpretation and enforcement of the most famous data protection law, the GDPR. If no personal data are being processed, the GDPR simply does not apply. Some have considered that “personal data” is an absolute concept, i.e. information can be “in and of […]

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Personalisation of digital audiovisual service + use of social media logins

Personalisation of digital audiovisual service + use of social media logins: Belgian DPA follows our arguments that contract can be a valid legal ground for personalised services and that terms of use of an online service can be a valid contract to that end, and it recognises that provided there is transparency & data minimisation, […]

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Irish DPC v EDPB: consequences of General Court judgment for EDPB’s authority

After last week’s EU General Court judgment in the Irish DPC vs EDPB case, some claimed that this makes EDPB Guidelines and Opinions unassailable. (Yes, really.) That’s wrong. Let’s look at what the judgment means for the EDPB’s authority – and some issues it raises: 1/ Scope of EDPB binding decisions The judgment of the […]

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The common misconceptions around contextual versus targeted advertising

Contextual ads > targeted ads”? Often this approach refers to one Dutch broadcaster’s (misinterpreted) story and mistaken assumptions that “contextual” means “no data”. Now for the opposite story from Belgium: the news website Tweakers tried an allegedly “tracking-free” contextual ad system since May 2022 but announced yesterday it was not economically viable and would be […]

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Will AI replace junior lawyers or redefine the next generation of legal talent?

AI won’t replace you – a lawyer who uses it will” is quickly becoming a clich� � but what about junior lawyers and the next generation(s)? With the publication of the “Better Call GPT” study, I thought it would be good to finally publish (and update) an op-ed I have been mulling over since April […]

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