Amid rising concerns over data privacy, the European Parliament has decided to disable AI capabilities on lawmakers’ devices. This precautionary measure aims to ensure that sensitive information remains secure.
As reported by Politico, Parliament staff were informed that features relying on artificial intelligence on corporate devices, including tablets, have been shut off because the IT department could not ensure data security.
The primary issue arises from the fact that many AI assistants depend on cloud services for functionalities like email summarization, transferring data away from the device—compromising data protection protocols.
This development is unfortunate for device vendors that advocate for on-device processing. However, the European Parliament’s tech support emphasized, “As these features continue to advance and are introduced on more devices, the extent of the data shared with service providers is still being evaluated. Until this is completely understood, it is deemed prudent to disable such functionalities.”
The Register reached out to the European Parliament for further comments.
Historically, data privacy and AI services have not always aligned well. Research has indicated that employees frequently expose sensitive company information via assistants. This has led to increased attention on on-device AI solutions, as concerns about cloud data transmissions persist.
The prospect of confidential data being transferred to an unknown cloud location for processing has understandably alarmed lawmakers, prompting this comprehensive ban. However, the situation is different if processing occurs directly on the device.
The report by Politico mentioned that commonly used applications, such as calendar programs, remain unaffected by this decision. The ban is deemed temporary and will remain in place until experts can clarify what data is being shared and its destination.
In recent years, the European Parliament has intensified its scrutiny of AI and has implemented the world’s first dedicated legislation specifically aimed at addressing potential risks linked to this technology. The prohibition, along with guidance aimed at discouraging lawmakers from using AI services for parliamentary activities, reflects broader anxieties regarding data security rather than specific concerns about AI itself.
The issued guidance also discourages allowing third-party AI applications extensive access to sensitive data, a prudent strategy regardless of one’s workplace environment. ®
