European Union: Reached Council and Parliament agreement on Directive on improving working conditions in platform work including data protection for workers

On 13 December 2023, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a provisional agreement on the Directive on improving working conditions in platform work, including data protection for workers. Under the agreement, digital labour platforms would be prohibited from processing workers’ data on emotional or psychological state, data that could infer sensitive information such as racial or ethnic origin, political or religious beliefs, migration status, health or potential trade union activity. The processing of biometric data would be allowed only for authentification purposes and platforms will be prohibited from collecting personal data if the person is not performing the platform work. The reached agreement now will be legally revised and will go to the Parliament and Council for formal adoption.