The European Parliament has blocked lawmakers from using the built-in AI tools on their work devices. This decision cites cybersecurity and privacy risks associated with uploading confidential correspondence to the cloud.
According to an internal email, the parliament’s IT department stated it could not guarantee the security of data uploaded to the servers of AI companies. The full extent of what information is shared with these companies is still being assessed. The email concluded that it is considered safer to keep such AI features disabled.
Uploading data to AI chatbots, such as Anthropic’s Claude, Microsoft’s Copilot, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, means that U.S. authorities can demand the companies turn over information about their users. Furthermore, AI chatbots typically use information provided by users to improve their models. This increases the chance that potentially sensitive information uploaded by one person could be shared and seen by other users.
Europe has some of the strongest data protection rules in the world. However, the European Commission last year proposed new legislative measures aimed at relaxing these data protection rules. The goal would be to make it easier for tech giants to train their AI models on Europeans’ data. This drew criticism from those who said the move caves in to U.S. technology giants.
The restriction on European lawmakers comes as several EU member countries reevaluate their relationships with U.S. tech giants. These companies remain subject to U.S. law and the unpredictable demands of the Trump administration.
In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has sent hundreds of subpoenas demanding U.S. tech and social media giants turn over information about people, including Americans, who have been publicly critical of the Trump administration’s policies. Companies like Google, Meta, and Reddit complied in several cases, even though the subpoenas were not issued by a judge or enforced by a court.