Ada Lovelace Institute responds to the leaked copy of the EU digital Omnibus
Michael Birtwistle, Associate Director at the Ada Lovelace Institute, has responded to the leaked text of the EU digital Omnibus
14 November 2025
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Michael Birtwistle, Associate Director at the Ada Lovelace Institute, said:
‘The Ada Lovelace Institute is deeply concerned about the content of the leaked copy of the EU Omnibus, which proposes sweeping changes to fundamental safeguards including the reasons data can be lawfully processed, the handling of sensitive ‘special category data’, transparency and restrictions on automated decision-making, and the privacy of electronic communications.
‘As leaked, the Omnibus would be the most significant and extraordinary retrenchment in digital rights in a generation, fundamentally altering the presumption that control of people’s data should be their own and that they should have choices in how they are subject to AI.
‘The Omnibus is built on the false premise that any form of deregulation is good for business and the economy. Yet its impact would harm not only people, but the shape and character of the future EU AI market. It would incentivise ‘race to the bottom’ compliance behaviours, punishing companies pursuing responsible AI and challenging the push for greater sovereignty. And – despite claims to the contrary – it would hurt SMEs, which have spent the last seven years building compliance tech and talent for the current regime.
‘A positive forward agenda on effective digital regulation should invest in a responsive, institutional architecture that lets businesses build with confidence and get quick answers where they feel uncertain. Without a significant change in direction, however, the Omnibus will be a vehicle that seriously endangers the EU’s future with AI: pushing risk down into the economy and onto adopters, reducing mechanisms that make risk visible and addressable, and stripping people of agency over their digital lives.’