Austrian Advocacy Group NOYB Takes Legal Action Against X Over AI Training Data Violation

The recent development regarding the social media platform X has raised significant concerns within the European data protection landscape. The Austrian advocacy group NOYB has taken legal action against the company, alleging unauthorized use of personal information belonging to Austrian users for artificial intelligence training. This situation highlights ongoing tensions between tech firms and EU privacy regulations.

On Monday, NOYB formally accused the platform owned by Elon Musk of utilizing users' personal data acquired without consent, which breaches established EU privacy laws. The organization, led by well-known privacy advocate Max Schrems, announced the filing of complaints under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with nine EU authorities to increase pressure on the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC).

As the primary EU regulatory body overseeing numerous major US internet companies, the DPC has been working to halt or limit X's data processing activities aimed at refining its AI systems. An Irish court was informed last week that the company had consented to suspend the use of personal data collected from EU users until they were provided with an option to revoke their consent.

However, NOYB emphasized that their complaint to the DPC is focused on the company's lack of proactive measures and insufficient collaboration rather than questioning the legality of the data processing itself. Schrems pointed out the necessity for X to fully comply with EU regulations, which, at a minimum, necessitates obtaining explicit user consent.

During a recent court session, it was revealed that X had offered its users the ability to refuse consent only several weeks after initiating data collection. A response from X regarding the complaint was not immediately available. Nonetheless, the Global Government Affairs account for X stated that the company would maintain its engagement with the DPC concerning AI-related matters.

In a parallel development in June, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced plans to pause its AI assistant rollout in Europe following advisories from the Irish DPC regarding potential delays. NOYB has also submitted complaints in various countries about the handling of personal data for similar purposes in this instance.

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