AI GDPR Privacy

Austria deals blow to “Pay or Okay” consent model

The Austrian Federal Administrative Court confirmed that DerStandard’s “Pay or Okay” model breaches the GDPR. Users had to either accept tracking by hundreds of third parties or pay a subscription. Authorities ruled that this coercive model invalidates consent, which must be free and specific. Real consent rates drop to 1–7% when asked transparently, but the […]

AI Privacy

When privacy becomes training data

Researchers found millions of passports, credit cards, résumés, and faces in DataComp CommonPool, a massive AI training dataset scraped from the web. Auditing just 0.1% revealed hundreds of millions of likely PII (personally identifiable information) items, including sensitive job and health details. Despite face-blurring tools, researchers estimate 102 million faces were missed, and metadata/captions still […]

AI

40% of agentic AI projects will fail

Gartner predicts over 40% of agentic AI projects will be canceled by 2027 due to cost, unclear ROI, and security gaps. But that’s not failure, it’s how innovation works. Like past tech trends, the hype cycle gives way to reality, then lasting value. Proof-of-concepts are meant to fail fast and filter out weak ideas. True […]

AI

AI in focus with a global pulse on trust, use and impact

Trust Gap: 54% of people remain skeptical of AI, especially in advanced economies, despite recognizing its technical capabilities. Digital Divide: Emerging economies lead in AI use, knowledge, and training—outpacing advanced ones across the board. Balancing Act: Public opinion is split—AI brings efficiency and innovation but also fears around privacy, misinformation, and job loss. Call for […]

AI Privacy

DeepSeek database leak exposes AI security risks

Wiz Research uncovered a publicly accessible ClickHouse database belonging to DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup. The database exposed over a million sensitive log entries, including chat history, API keys, and backend details. The database was entirely open, allowing full control without authentication. This posed severe security risks, making it vulnerable to unauthorized access and potential […]

AI Privacy

Italy probes DeepSeek data risks

Italy’s Privacy Guarantor has requested information from DeepSeek AI providers in China about their data collection practices. Authorities are concerned about potential risks to the personal data of millions of Italians. Key inquiries include data sources, the legal basis for collection, storage locations, and the use of web scraping. Regulators want to understand how DeepSeek […]

AI

Generative AI is shaping the future of work

Generative AI (gen AI), like ChatGPT and image-generating tools, is revolutionizing job markets, particularly in writing, coding, and design. This technological shift is reshaping the demand for certain roles and creating both challenges and opportunities for workers. Research analyzing 1.4 million online job posts from 2021 to 2023 shows a significant impact of AI tools […]

AI

Even the best AI Chatbots often hallucinate

Even the best AI chatbots often hallucinate, demonstrating that their output cannot yet be fully trusted, according to researchers from various universities and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. For their study, the researchers developed a benchmark called WildHallucinations to assess the accuracy of AI chatbot responses. The AI chatbots were required to answer a […]

AI Data Protection GDPR

X’s AI ambitions under fire

Twitter (now “X”) is accused of using personal data from over 60 million EU users to train its AI without their consent, sparking multiple GDPR complaints. The Irish Data Protection Commission initiated court proceedings against Twitter, but critics argue it focused on minor issues rather than the core GDPR violations. Privacy group noyb filed complaints […]