Privacy and data protection

EDPS calls for strong safeguards in EU-US border data-sharing agreement

On 17 September 2025, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) issued an Opinion on the EU-US negotiating mandate for a framework agreement on exchanging information for security screenings and identity verifications. The European Commission’s Recommendation aims to establish legal conditions for sharing data between the EU member states and the USA, enabling bilateral agreements tied to the US Visa Waiver Program’s Enhanced Border Security Partnership.

EDPS Wojciech Wiewiórowski emphasised the need to balance border security with fundamental rights, warning that sharing personal and biometric data could interfere with privacy. The agreement, a first for large-scale data sharing with a third country, must strictly limit data processing to what is necessary and proportionate.

The EDPS recommended narrowing the scope of shared data, excluding transfers from sensitive EU systems related to migration and asylum, and called for robust accountability, transparency, and judicial redress mechanisms accessible to all individuals, regardless of nationality.

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AI agent headlines Notion 3.0 rollout

Notion has officially entered the agent era with the launch of Notion Agent, the centrepiece of its Notion 3.0 rollout. Described as a ‘teammate and Notion super user,’ the AI agent is designed to automate work inside and beyond Notion.

The new tool can automatically build pages and databases, search across connected tools like Slack, and perform up to 20 minutes of autonomous work at a time. Notion says this enables faster, more efficient workflows across hundreds of pages simultaneously.

A key feature is memory, which allows the agent to ‘remember’ a user’s preferences and working style. These memories can be edited and stored under multiple profiles, allowing users to customise their agent for different projects or contexts.

Notion highlights use cases such as generating email campaigns, consolidating feedback into reports, and transforming meeting notes into emails or proposals. The company says the agent acts as a partner who plans tasks and carries them out end-to-end.

Future updates will expand personalisation and automation, including fully customised agents capable of even more complex tasks. Notion positions the launch as a step toward a new era of intelligent, self-directed productivity.

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Lenovo unveils AI Super Agents for next-generation automation

Lenovo is pushing into the next phase of AI with the launch of its AI Super Agents, designed to move beyond reactive systems and perform complex, multi-step tasks autonomously.

The company describes the technology as a cognitive operating system capable of orchestrating multiple specialised agents to deliver results across devices and enterprise systems.

The AI Super Agent extends agentic AI to complete tasks like managing supply chains, booking services, and developing applications. Lenovo’s model combines perception, cognition, and autonomy, letting agents understand intent, make decisions, and adapt in real time.

According to Lenovo, the innovation will serve both individuals and businesses by streamlining workflows, scaling operations, and enhancing decision-making. The company stressed responsible AI, following international standards on ethics, transparency, and data protection.

AI Super Agents will be showcased at Lenovo’s Tech World event in Las Vegas in January 2026. They represent the next step in hybrid AI, combining on-device and enterprise-scale intelligence to enhance productivity and creativity.

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OpenAI explains approach to privacy, freedom, and teen safety

OpenAI has outlined how it balances privacy, freedom, and teen safety in its AI tools. The company said AI conversations often involve personal information and deserve protection like privileged talks with doctors or lawyers.

Security features are being developed to keep data private, though critical risks such as threats to life or societal-scale harm may trigger human review.

The company is also focused on user freedom. Adults are allowed greater flexibility in interacting with AI, within safety boundaries. For instance, the model can engage in creative or sensitive content requests, while avoiding guidance that could cause real-world harm.

OpenAI aims to treat adults as adults, providing broader freedoms as long as safety is maintained. Teen safety is prioritised over privacy and freedom. Users under 18 are identified via an age-prediction system or, in some cases, verified by ID.

The AI will avoid flirtatious talk or discussions of self-harm, and in cases of imminent risk, parents or authorities may be contacted. Parental controls and age-specific rules are being developed to protect minors while ensuring safe use of the platform.

OpenAI acknowledged that these principles sometimes conflict and not everyone will agree with the approach. The company stressed transparency in its decision-making and said it consulted experts to establish policies that balance safety, freedom, and privacy.

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Character.AI and Google face suits over child safety claims

Three lawsuits have been filed in US federal courts alleging that Character.AI and its founders, with Google’s backing, deployed predatory chatbots that harmed children. The cases involve the family of 13-year-old Juliana Peralta, who died by suicide in 2023, and two other minors.

The complaints say the chatbots were designed to mimic humans, build dependency, and expose children to sexual content. Using emojis, typos, and pop-culture personas, the bots allegedly gained trust and encouraged isolation from family and friends.

Juliana’s parents say she engaged in explicit chats, disclosed suicidal thoughts, and received no intervention before her death. Nina, 15, from New York, attempted suicide after her mother blocked the app, while a Colorado, US girl known as T.S. was also affected.

Character.AI and Google are accused of misrepresenting the app as child-safe and failing to act on warning signs. The cases follow earlier lawsuits from the Social Media Victims Law Center over similar claims that the platform encouraged harm.

SMVLC founder Matthew Bergman stated that the cases underscore the urgent need for accountability in AI design and stronger safeguards to protect children. The legal team is seeking damages and stricter safety standards for chatbot platforms marketed to minors.

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Researchers for OpenAI and Apollo find scheming behaviour in frontier AI models

OpenAI and Apollo Research developed evaluations to reveal hidden misalignment in advanced AI systems, often labelled scheming, and observed scheming-like behaviour in several frontier models, including OpenAI o3, o4-mini, Gemini 2.5 pro and Claude Opus-4.

Researchers treated covert actions, such as deliberately withholding or distorting task-relevant information, as a measurable proxy and stress-tested models across dozens of scenarios.

Scheming occurs when a model outwardly appears aligned while pursuing an alternate goal. The teams used a trader analogy to explain the risk: a rule-breaking broker who covers tracks can seem more compliant than an honest operator who accepts lower gains.

They trained models with deliberative alignment to counter the behaviour, asking them to read and reason about an anti-scheming specification before acting. Hence, models follow safety principles instead of merely avoiding detection.

That training produced about a thirtyfold reduction in covert actions on out-of-distribution tests, with o3 falling from 13 percent to 0.4 percent and o4-mini dropping from 8.7 percent to 0.3 percent.

Nevertheless, rare but serious failures remained, and measurement proved complex. Models often became more aware of being evaluated, and situational awareness can suppress observable scheming without altering underlying aims.

The study relied heavily on access to the models’ chain of thought to probe motivations, so preserving reasoning transparency is crucial for reliable oversight. The teams warned that training practices eroding transparency could make monitoring far harder and let misalignment hide rather than vanish.

OpenAI and Apollo called for broader cross-lab safety evaluations, stronger monitoring tools and continued research into anti-scheming techniques. They renewed their partnership, launched a $500,000 red-teaming challenge focused on scheming and proposed shared testing protocols.

The researchers emphasised there is no evidence that today’s deployed AI models would abruptly begin harmful scheming. Still, the risk will grow as systems take on more ambiguous, long-term, real-world responsibilities instead of short, narrow tasks.

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Google adds AI features to Chrome browser on Android and desktop

Alphabet’s Google has announced new AI-powered features for its Chrome browser that aim to make web browsing more proactive instead of reactive. The update centres on integrating Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, into Chrome to provide contextual support across tabs and tasks.

The AI assistant will help students and professionals manage large numbers of open tabs by summarising articles, answering questions, and recalling previously visited pages. It will also connect with Google services such as Docs and Calendar, offering smoother workflows on desktop and mobile devices.

Chrome’s address bar, the omnibox, is being upgraded with AI Mode. Users can ask multi-part questions and receive context-aware suggestions relevant to the page they are viewing. Initially available in the US, the feature will roll out to other regions and languages soon.

Beyond productivity, Google is also applying AI to security and convenience. Chrome now blocks billions of spam notifications daily, fills in login details, and warns users about malicious apps.

Future updates are expected to bring agentic capabilities, enabling Chrome to carry out complex tasks such as ordering groceries with minimal user input.

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Meta and Google to block political ads in EU under new regulations

Broadcasters and advertisers seek clarity before the EU’s political advertising rules become fully applicable on 10 October. The European Commission has promised further guidance, but details on what qualifies as political advertising remain vague.

Meta and Google will block the EU’s political, election, and social issue ads when the rules take effect, citing operational challenges and legal uncertainty. The regulation, aimed at curbing disinformation and foreign interference, requires ads to display labels with sponsors, payments, and targeting.

Publishers fear they lack the technical means to comply or block non-compliant programmatic ads, risking legal exposure. They call for clear sponsor identification procedures, standardised declaration formats, and robust verification processes to ensure authenticity.

Advertisers warn that the rules’ broad definition of political actors may be hard to implement. At the same time, broadcasters fear issue-based campaigns – such as environmental awareness drives – could unintentionally fall under the scope of political advertising.

The Dutch parliamentary election on 29 October will be the first to take place under the fully applicable rules, making clarity from Brussels urgent for media and advertisers across the bloc.

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New Amazon AI transforms seller experience

Amazon has unveiled a significant upgrade to its Seller Assistant, evolving the tool into an agentic AI-powered partner that can actively help sellers manage and grow their businesses.

Powered by Amazon Bedrock and using advanced models from Amazon Nova and Anthropic Claude, the AI can respond to queries and plan, reason, and act with a seller’s permission. Independent sellers now have an assistant operating around the clock while controlling them.

The upgraded AI can optimise inventory, monitor account health, and provide strategic guidance on product listings and compliance requirements.

Analysing historical trends alongside current data can suggest new product categories, forecast demand, and propose advertising strategies to improve performance. Sellers can receive actionable recommendations instead of manually reviewing reports, saving time and effort.

Creative Studio also benefits from agentic AI capabilities, enabling sellers to generate professional-quality advertising content in hours instead of weeks.

The AI evaluates products alongside Amazon’s shopping signals and produces tailored ad concepts with clear reasoning, helping sellers refine campaigns and boost engagement. Early users report faster decisions, better inventory management, and more efficient marketing.

Amazon plans to extend Seller Assistant to other countries in the coming months at no extra cost.

The evolution highlights the growing role of AI in everyday business operations. It reflects Amazon’s commitment to integrating advanced technologies into the seller experience instead of relying solely on human intervention.

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US judge rejects Meta’s bid to overturn verdict in reproductive data case

Meta has failed to overturn a jury verdict that found it illegally collected sensitive reproductive health data from users of the Flo period tracking app. US District Judge James Donato rejected Meta’s claim that the data was ‘secondhand’ and not protected under California’s wiretapping law.

The court found that Meta directly intercepted real-time communications between users and the app, such as when users indicated they wanted to track their menstrual cycle or pregnancy.

Judge Donato also dismissed Meta’s argument that Flo users had consented to the data sharing, calling the claim “rank speculation” unsupported by evidence.

The jury’s August verdict marked one of the first major legal decisions involving big tech’s handling of sensitive health information. Legal experts say it could open the door to more lawsuits and greater scrutiny of tech companies’ data practices. Meta has not responded to requests for comment.

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