The European Parliament has taken a precautionary step by disabling built-in artificial intelligence features on work devices issued to lawmakers and staff members, citing unresolved cybersecurity and data protection risks.
The decision follows an internal IT security assessment that identified potential vulnerabilities in how AI-powered tools handle sensitive information.
According to an internal communication from the Parliament’s technical support team, the primary concern centers on AI features that utilize cloud services to process tasks that could be handled locally.
This architecture requires transmitting data off the device to external servers, creating potential exposure points for parliamentary information.
The IT department determined it could not guarantee the security of data shared with these service providers, particularly as AI capabilities continue evolving across different platforms.
Scope of Restrictions
The disabled AI functionalities include writing and summarising assistants, enhanced virtual assistants, and webpage summary tools, all of which are available on both tablets and smartphones, as reported by Politico.
Standard productivity applications such as email, calendar, and document management remain unaffected and fully operational for daily parliamentary work. The institution has not disclosed which specific operating systems or device manufacturers are impacted by these restrictions.
The European Parliament emphasized it continuously monitors cybersecurity threats and deploys necessary countermeasures but declined to provide specific technical details due to the sensitive nature of security protocols.
An EU official, speaking anonymously, confirmed the measure affects built-in device features rather than standalone applications.
This action aligns with the Parliament’s broader data security initiatives implemented in recent years.
The institution banned TikTok on staff devices in 2023 and faced pressure from lawmakers in November 2025 to replace Microsoft software with European alternatives.
These measures reflect growing concerns about foreign technology vendors and data sovereignty within EU institutions.
The Parliament has also advised lawmakers to apply similar precautions to personal devices used for work purposes, recommending they avoid exposing work-related content to AI scanning features and exercise caution when granting data access permissions to third-party AI applications.
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