On 18 October 2025, the digital landscape on both sides of the globe appeared to be in a state of flux, as governments and tech giants alike grappled with the challenge of balancing innovation, privacy, and regulation. From the halls of the European Union to the offices of Google and the Kenya Revenue Authority, a common thread emerged: the quest to streamline digital operations without sacrificing fundamental rights or market competitiveness.
In Brussels, anticipation is building for the European Commission’s forthcoming "digital omnibus," set to be unveiled on 19 November. According to EUobserver, this legislative package aims to simplify a tangle of digital laws that have long frustrated businesses operating across the continent. EU digital commissioner Henna Virkkunen set the tone in a 16 September press release, declaring, “We want an innovation-friendly rulebook: both in the way we apply the rules, and in simplifying the laws where our objectives can be reached at lower costs.” She added, “We aim for less paperwork, fewer overlaps and less complex rules for companies doing business in the EU.”
The omnibus will target rules on cookies and other tracking technologies, cybersecurity incident reporting, and tweaks to the EU’s flagship Artificial Intelligence Act. The goal, as outlined by the Commission, is to align privacy provisions in the ePrivacy directive with GDPR and Digital Service Act standards, harmonize reporting obligations under NIS2 and the Cyber Resilience Act, and clarify high-risk AI categories and obligations for general-purpose AI models. Business associations, including the Computer and Communication Industry Association (CCIA)—which represents tech behemoths like Apple, Amazon, and Meta—have seized the moment to push for even more sweeping changes. On 15 October, CCIA Europe’s vice-president Daniel Friedlaender urged, “Slowly the EU’s simplification efforts are moving in the right direction, but things are not going fast enough. Now is the time for real ambition and decisive action.”
France and Germany, two of the EU’s economic heavyweights, have united in their call for a regulatory overhaul. Their September joint economic agenda emphasized the urgency to “substantially ease the complexity and simplify the European Union’s regulatory environment.” They are hosting the Berlin Digital Sovereignty Summit on 18 November, gathering public and private stakeholders to press Brussels for a balance between innovation and strategic autonomy. Germany’s digital minister Karsten Wildberger made it clear to Reuters: “Digital sovereignty doesn’t mean protectionism. We want to and must be accessible for the global market.” He pointed to the “huge growth market for technology, innovation, software, data and artificial intelligence.”
Yet, as the EU leans into simplification, a chorus of civil society groups and academics warn of the dangers of deregulation disguised as efficiency. In multiple open letters and interviews, they have argued that merging and amending such a vast array of digital rules could weaken essential protections. Plixavra Vogiatzoglou, a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam, cautioned, “Simplification of the e-Privacy Directive rules on cookies and ‘other tracking technologies’ is liable to affect rules that have been providing safeguards against arbitrary or disproportionate state or commercial surveillance.” Dutch digital law professor Kristina Irion added, “The way the commission is rushing towards digital simplification should be a cause for concern. The bigger fish to fry is effective implementation and scalable enforcement.”
Ella Jakubowska, campaigner for European Digital Rights group (EDRi), echoed these sentiments to EUobserver: “There’s no doubt that this is really about deregulation.” She warned that weakening safeguards in the AI Act “could expose all of us to algorithmic harms that this law was designed to stop, for example, AI-driven discrimination.” German MEP Birgit Sippel was even more blunt: “With ePrivacy dismantled, Europeans are left with nothing but the Charter to defend their right to privacy, while US tech giants enjoy a carte blanche to exploit our data for profit.”
Meanwhile, Europe’s push for digital sovereignty comes as the continent tries to catch up in the global AI race. The EU Commission has committed billions to AI initiatives, including the €200 billion InvestAI program launched in February. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen described it as “the largest public-private partnership in the world for the development of trustworthy AI.” Yet, European AI companies like Mistral AI and Black Forest Labs argue that current regulations stifle innovation. In 2025, 58 companies signed an open letter to von der Leyen requesting a two-year pause on implementing AI regulation, warning that the law “jeopardises not only the development of European champions, but also the ability of all industries to deploy AI at the scale required by global competition.”
Across the channel, the UK is facing its own strategic dilemmas. In September, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced over £31 billion ($35.5 billion) in AI funding, but critics warned that the move handed too much control to US tech leaders, echoing broader European concerns about dependence on foreign technology. The US, meanwhile, remains the undisputed leader in AI capacity, holding about 75 percent of global AI supercomputer resources as of 2025, according to the 2025 State of AI report by Nathan Benaich and Air Street Capital. Former President Trump’s July executive order made clear America’s ambition: “The United States must not only lead in developing general-purpose and frontier AI capabilities, but also ensure that American AI technologies, standards, and governance models are adopted worldwide.”
On the corporate front, Google’s retreat from its Privacy Sandbox initiative marked the end of a much-touted effort to replace third-party cookies with a privacy-friendly alternative for personalized ads. The project, launched in 2019, struggled with regulatory scrutiny in the UK and US and faced lackluster industry adoption. On 18 October, Google Vice President Anthony Chavez announced, “We will be continuing our work to improve privacy across Chrome, Android and the web, but moving away from the Privacy Sandbox branding.” A spokesperson confirmed to AdWeek that Google was retiring the whole initiative, not just its technologies. The move signals a broader industry struggle to find effective privacy solutions that satisfy both users and regulators.
In Kenya, the tension between technological innovation and privacy is playing out in the realm of tax collection. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) recently adopted AI and advanced data analytics to improve efficiency, but the move has sparked fears of government overreach into personal financial data. Addressing these concerns at the Annual Tax Summit, KRA Board Chair Ndiritu Muriithi insisted, “It’s not that we are out to get you; that’s not what we mean at all. We are not trying to invade your privacy or monitor your data. Our goal is simply to ensure that every Kenyan pays their fair share of taxes.” Muriithi explained that the new technology would streamline payments, reduce administrative costs, and help integrate small and medium enterprises into the formal tax system. Deputy Head of Public Service Josphat Nanok urged the KRA to “envision a fully integrated, seamless system that anchors strategic reforms in efficient service delivery.”
As governments and companies alike race to adapt, the challenge remains: how to foster innovation and efficiency without eroding the privacy and rights of individuals. The coming months will reveal whether these efforts lead to greater trust, or whether the pendulum swings too far in favor of deregulation and corporate power.
