Technologies

Europe Is Ready to Dilute Its Tough Rules on Privacy. You Can Blame AI for That

Critics warned that proposed changes will weaken the GDPR in a way that amounts to an attack on digital rights.

Europe has long been a global leader when it comes to regulating Big Tech, but it is now considering making changes that would weaken its landmark privacy legislation, the General Data Protection Regulation, also known as GDPR.

In a move designed to unlock access to data essential to AI across the region, the European Commission on Wednesday published proposals for a «digital simplification strategy.» These proposals include rolling back some GDPR protections, including simplifying cookie permission pop-ups and delaying the introduction of AI regulation.

Europe introduced the GDPR in 2018. It was designed to give European citizens more knowledge, control and power over who was able to access and use their personal data. The regulation went on to inform the development of similar laws elsewhere in the world, including privacy legislation in California.

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The EU was ahead of the curve when it came to regulating technology, but at the same time no serious competitors have emerged from within Europe to rival the AI companies out of the US and China. The bloc has been under pressure from American technology companies and the Trump administration to lessen the regulatory burdens they face in the region.

In the US, the White House has been pushing hard for unfettered development of artificial intelligence technologies. Over the summer it unveiled a national AI Action Plan, which among other things called for the removal of red tape and «onerous regulation.»

In a press release, the executive vice president of the European Commission for technological sovereignty, Henna Virkkunen, called the proposed changes to the GDPR «a face-lift with targeted amendments…that reflect how technology has evolved.» The aim of the measures, she added, is to encourage AI development.

An «attack» on European rights?

As the Commission noted in its proposal on Wednesday, member states consider the GDPR to be an effective and balanced piece of legislation. It’s framing the proposed changes as being a way to «harmonise, clarify and simplify» the application of the regulation.

European privacy campaigners see it differently. «This is the biggest attack on European’s digital rights in years,» said Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems, who is best known for taking legal action against Meta (aka Facebook) over privacy violations. «When the Commission states that it ‘maintains the highest standards’, it clearly is incorrect. It proposes to undermine these standards.»

Some campaigners are worried that the proposed changes to GDPR are a sign that the EU is kowtowing to Big Tech. It’s unlikely that the changes would allow Europe to begin challenging the dominance of the US and China when it comes to AI, said Johnny Ryan, director of the Enforce unit at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.

«Today’s proposal from European Commission to revise the GDPR will entrench the dominance of US and Chinese digital giants, and harm European startups and [small to medium businesses],» he said. «Europe’s problem is not that it has too many rules for data and AI, but that it hypes those rules and then neglects to enforce them.»

According to Schrems, the proposed reform of the GDPR seems primarily designed to remove obstacles that could prevent AI companies from using personal data for AI.

«Artificial intelligence may be one of the most impactful and dangerous technologies for our democracy and society,» he said. «Nevertheless, the narrative of an ‘AI race’ has led politicians to even throw protections out of the window that should have exactly protected us from having all our data go into a big opaque algorithm.»

Technologies

Help Us Crown the Most Loved Headphones and Earbuds of 2026

Got a pair you swear by? Take our People’s Picks survey to help us find a winner.

CNET just launched People’s Picks, a series of surveys where actual humans like you vote for the products and services you use. Starting in April, we want you to weigh in on your favorite headphones and earbuds. We’ll pick a winner based on which ones you love the most.

Why we want to hear from you

Our writers and editors test hundreds of products each year, but your real-world experience with these devices is something we can’t replicate in our labs. You’ve used these headphones at the gym, on your commute to work and on long flights, and that perspective is invaluable. Your voice helps others know about the headphones or earbuds you love, too.

«I review a lot of headphones and earbuds for CNET, and there are plenty of great models from the top brands in this survey that I rate highly. I’m always curious about what models people ultimately choose and why, so I’m excited to get your feedback and learn the results of this survey,» says David Carnoy, CNET’s executive editor and headphones expert.

With our survey, we’ll collect answers from real-world users like you. The headphones and earbuds chosen through our 3-minute survey will be featured in our People’s Picks roundup of the top picks based on your recommendation.

Make your voice heard

Whether you swear by a pair of $25 earbuds or love a pair of high-end headphones, your pick counts. The survey takes just a few minutes to complete, and after we gather enough information, we’ll tally the results and publish the winners.

Not sure what to pick? Check out our Best Headphones to revisit your favorites before voting.

Technologies

Google’s Pixel 10A Is Coming to Japan With an Exclusive Blue Edition and Special Wallpaper

This model comes with creatively designed stickers and a special look for Pixel’s 10th anniversary.

Don’t be blue: Google is releasing an Isai blue edition of the Pixel 10A to celebrate the Android phone line’s 10th anniversary, setting it apart with its own sticker set, specialized wallpaper and custom icons. But it’ll only be available in Japan.

Announced Tuesday on the Google Japan blog, the Isai blue Pixel 10A has a dark blue look and includes bonus decorations designed in collaboration with Japan’s Heralbony art company. These include an exclusive bumper case and stickers for customization.

This edition of the Pixel 10A will arrive in Japan on May 20, following the April 14 release of the Pixel 10A in its original colors of lavender, berry, fog and obsidian. The Isai blue model costs 94,900 yen, which roughly translates to $595, and includes 256GB of storage.

This makes it slightly less expensive than the US model’s 256GB edition, but it comes with a number of fun extras at no additional cost.

Google’s creation of a country-specific model for Japan may also reflect strong sales in that market. In 2023, the IDC analytics firm (via 9to5Google) reported that the Pixel 7 series accounted for 10.7% of the country’s market share, a 527% increase from 2022.

Technologies

Can’t Wait for New Emoji? Here’s How to Create Your Own on iPhone

Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones can create custom emoji in a few easy steps.

Apple brought new emoji to all iPhones when the company released iOS 26.4 on March 24. The new emoji include «🫍» orca, «🫪» distorted face and «🫈» hairy creature — or as we might normally call it, Sasquatch. According to Emojipedia, there are 3,953 emoji with more on the way, including a pickle. But there’s no emoji for a dog wearing pajamas, a plate with burgers and fries and many other things. But if you have Genmoji on your iPhone you can create these emoji and many more.

Apple released iOS 18.2 in 2024 and the company introduced its own emoji generator, called Genmoji, to Apple Intelligence-capable iPhones at that time. The Unicode Standard, a universal character encoding standard, is responsible for creating new emoji, and approved emoji are added to all devices once a year. With Genmoji, you don’t have to wait for new emoji to appear on your iPhone each year. You can just create them as you need them.

Read on to learn how to use Genmoji on iPhone to create your own custom emoji. Just note that only iPhones with Apple Intelligence, like the iPhone 17 lineup, can use Genmoji at this time.

Note: The new emoji may not display correctly for Apple users whose devices aren’t on a 26.4 software version.

How to make custom emoji

1. Open Messages and go into a chat.
2. Tap the plus (+) button next to your text box.
3. Tap Genmoji.

You can then type a description of an emoji into the text box near the bottom of your screen and tap the check mark on your keyboard to enter that description into Genmoji. You can also tap different suggestions and themes that are right above the text box. And with iOS 26 or later, you can also combine and use emoji to create others rather than describing a new emoji or using suggestions.

Your iPhone will generate a series of new emoji for you to pick from according to your description, and you can swipe through these new emoji. When you find the one you want, tap Add in the top right corner of your screen and the new emoji will be available to use as an emoji, tapback or a sticker. Now you don’t have to wait for the Unicode Standard to propose, create and bring new emoji to devices.

For more iOS news, here’s what to know about iOS 26.4 and iOS 26.3. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for other tips and tricks.