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Terms of service are generally designed to safeguard a service provider against legal challenges. These terms are not like a memorandum of understanding, trade agreement or a contract established jointly by two more or less equal parties. Rather, they are laid down by the service provider and not open to negotiation. In the EU there are rules protecting the consumer against unfair terms, under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, prohibiting a dominant company in a market from imposing unfair trading conditions.

The Federal Competition Authority has issued its decision on the lawfulness of Facebook's data processing. As its q&a document explains, you cannot extricate the interests of consumers, including their rights to privacy and data protection, from the responsibilities of dominant companies under competition law.

Twice a year the EDPS trainees organise an expert discussion on a topical theme related to data protection. Today’s event looks at digital technology and banking. The EDPS has always supported young generations in developing their appetite for knowledge and deepening their involvement in shaping our future. As EDPS, we are proud to act as a platform for sharing knowledge across generations and we believe we will reap the benefits of this intergenerational cooperation in the near future.

I would like to thank Els Kindt for moderating the conference, and to Carl-Christian Buhr, Jérémie Dubois-Lacoste, Farid Aliyev and Philippe de Koster for taking part in our lively panel discussion.

Our guest blogger today is Joseph, one of our trainees involved in organising the conference and provides here an introduction. He and the team should be proud of their efforts.

Happy new year to you all.

The ‘phoney war’ is coming to an end. The new data protection framework (still not complete, remember, absent updated rules on communications confidentiality!) has applied since May last year, but most people have probably not noticed much change to the way they are treated online, apart from a proliferation of pushy demands for ‘consent’ to accept business as usual.

In my blogpost on the May 2018 EDPS - DPO meeting, I expressed my strong belief that by the time our next meeting took place, the new Regulation for EU institutions and bodies would already be in force. How satisfying it is to see that this is indeed the case!

The history of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be seen as a sequence of increasing expectations and of frustrating disappointments.

A swarm of misinformation and misunderstanding surrounds the case for revising our rules on the confidentiality of electronic communications, otherwise known as ePrivacy. It’s high time for some honest debunking.

Technology is changing how we think, talk and act. How do we decide what is right and wrong in an age of connected people and machines? How do we hold powerful companies and governments to account? How should technology be developed and deployed in areas where the law seems to be silent or disputed? In other words, what is ethics in the digital age?

EDPS is pleased to give its support again to the Fundamental Rights Forum, an excellent initiative for bringing together a diverse array of people who care about human rights. This year’s edition, in an exciting new venue, the METAStadt in Vienna, is expected to be bigger than ever.

August in Brussels is often a rather quiet affair as the EU bubble floats temporarily away from the European capital.

But this is no normal summer for the EDPS. In precisely two months’ time, from 22 to 26 October, the 2018 International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners will start right here in the heart of the EU, and my staff and I are hard at work to host a data protection conversation like no other.