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.
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