Editorial & Advertiser disclosure

Global Banking and Finance Review is an online platform offering news, analysis, and opinion on the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the banking and finance industry worldwide. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.

Headlines

EU lays out guidelines on misuse of AI by employers, websites and police

Published by Global Banking and Finance Review

Posted on February 4, 2025

Featured image for article about Headlines

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Employers will be banned from using artificial intelligence to track their staff's emotions and websites will not be allowed to use it to trick users into spending money under EU AI guidelines announced on Tuesday.

The guidelines from the European Commission come as companies grapple with the complexity and cost of complying with the world's first legislation on the use of the technology.

The Artificial Intelligence Act, binding since last year, will be fully applicable on Aug. 2, 2026, with certain provisions kicking in earlier, such as the ban on certain practices from Feb. 2 this year.

"The ambition is to provide legal certainty for those who provide or deploy the artificial intelligence systems on the European market, also for the market surveillance authorities. The guidelines are not legally binding," a Commission official told reporters.

Prohibited practices include AI-enabled dark patterns embedded in services designed to manipulate users into making substantial financial commitments, and AI-enabled applications which exploit users based on their age, disability or socio-economic situation.

AI-enabled social scoring using unrelated personal data such as origin and race by social welfare agencies and other public and private bodies is banned, while police are not allowed to predict individuals' criminal behaviour solely based on their biometric data if this has not been verified.

Employers cannot use webcams and voice recognition systems to track employees' emotions, while mobile CCTV cameras equipped with AI-based facial recognition technologies for law enforcement purposes are prohibited, with limited exceptions and stringent safeguards.

EU countries have until Aug. 2 to designate market surveillance authorities to enforce the AI rules. AI breaches can cost companies fines ranging from 1.5% to 7% of their total global revenue.

The EU AI Act is more comprehensive than the United States' light-touch voluntary compliance approach while China's approach aims to maintain social stability and state control.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Alison Williams)