European Parliament bans AI tools over cybersecurity and privacy concerns

It has been revealed that the European Parliament has disabled AI functions on work devices used by members and staff.

EU Parliament blocks AI tools over cyber, privacy fears – POLITICO

The European Parliament has disabled the 'built-in AI features' on the work tablets of its members and staff due to cybersecurity and data protection concerns, after its IT department determined that the AI tools could not be guaranteed to be secure, news outlet POLITICO has learned.

'Some of these features use cloud services to perform tasks that could otherwise be done locally, sending data off the device. While these features continue to evolve and become available on more devices, Parliament is currently assessing the full scope of data shared with service providers. Until this is fully clarified, it is considered safer to disable these features,' the European Parliament said in an email to lawmakers.

Congress did not specify which built-in AI features were disabled or which systems the work devices were running on. The disabling of AI tools applies to both tablets and smartphones, covering features such as writing and summarizing assistants, AI assistants, and web page summarizers.

The email also urged lawmakers to consider taking similar precautions with their personal devices, especially those used for work-related tasks. They also recommended avoiding exposing work emails, documents, and internal information to 'AI features that scan or analyze content,' being cautious about using third-party AI apps, and avoiding granting broad data access.

Europe has been tightening its data security policies in recent years due to concerns about using tools from foreign companies, and some countries have been switching from foreign products to European or domestic alternatives.

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In a written response to POLITICO, the European Parliament's press office said it 'constantly monitors cybersecurity threats and takes prompt action to prevent them,' but declined to comment on specific security or cybersecurity issues due to their 'sensitive nature.'