EU Member States Reject Proposed GDPR Redefinition of Personal Data
EU member-state governments, via the Council of the EU, rejected a European Commission proposal to redefine “personal data” under the GDPR as part of a broader late-2025 Digital Omnibus legislative package intended to streamline tech regulation and boost competitiveness. The proposed change was framed as making it easier to collect, share, and process data about individuals, but it drew pushback from privacy stakeholders concerned it would weaken protections.
European data protection regulators had already criticized the amendment earlier in February, and the Council’s compromise text—reported by Euractiv—omitted the Commission’s redefinition. Paul Nemitz, a key architect of the GDPR, welcomed the Council’s stance cautiously, signaling continued resistance among member states to altering the GDPR’s core definition of personal data in ways that could reduce privacy safeguards.
Timeline
Feb 24, 2026
Paul Nemitz criticizes remaining Council GDPR compromise provisions
After the Council dropped the redefinition, GDPR architect Paul Nemitz welcomed that decision but criticized other parts of the compromise text, including language suggesting some pseudonymized data might lose personal-data status and a proposal that could let AI firms rely on legitimate interests for model training.
Feb 24, 2026
Council of the EU rejects proposed GDPR personal-data redefinition
EU member-state governments, acting through the Council of the EU, removed the Commission's proposed redefinition of "personal data" from the compromise text. The move blocked a change that critics said would have made some re-identifiable data easier to process.
Feb 24, 2026
European Parliament study warns Digital Omnibus could weaken protections
A European Parliament study warned that the Digital Omnibus could undermine uniform data protection, and criticized the Commission for limited consultation and the absence of a full impact assessment.
Feb 24, 2026
European data protection regulators oppose personal-data redefinition
The European Data Protection Board and EU data protection regulators objected to the Commission's proposed redefinition, warning it could weaken protections for individuals under the GDPR.
Dec 1, 2025
Commission proposes GDPR changes in late-2025 Digital Omnibus package
The European Commission included a proposal in its late-2025 Digital Omnibus package to redefine "personal data" under the GDPR, aiming to ease collection and processing of some data that a company cannot immediately link to an identifiable person.
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