European Union: EDPB-EDPS adopted joint opinion on proposal for Digital Omnibus including government access to data

On 10 February 2026, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) adopted a joint opinion on the proposal for a Regulation as regards the simplification of the digital legislative framework (Digital Omnibus). Regarding government access to data, the Joint Opinion reviews the obligations of data holders to provide information to public sector bodies in cases of public emergency. It recommends that personal data should only be shared in pseudonymised form when anonymous data is insufficient to meet an exceptional need. Furthermore, the Joint Opinion addresses the removal of certain requirements for public sector bodies to specify technical and organisational measures for protecting such data, stressing that responsibilities for implementing these safeguards must remain clearly defined under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).