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

On 8 February 2024, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a new provisional agreement on the Directive on improving working conditions in platform work, including data protection for workers. The previous agreement reached on 13 December 2023 was renegotiated by the Belgian presidency after the last presidency determined that a majority in Coreper could not be reached. 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 will now be legally revised and will go to the Parliament and Council for formal adoption.