Italy's data watchdog warns AI startup that Slack stress-detection plugin may violate GDPR and EU AI Act
By
Luis Rijo
Pulled from the oven just right. Trustworthy, fact-dense, deeply satisfying.
Summary
Italy's data protection authority (Garante) has issued a formal warning against Myndoor S.r.l., an Italian startup that developed an AI plug-in for Slack and Microsoft Teams. The plug-in analyzes workplace chat messages to detect employees' emotional states and psychological stress levels. The Garante warns that sharing aggregated employee stress data with employers may violate both GDPR Article 9 (which prohibits processing of sensitive personal data like emotional/psychological information) and EU AI Act Article 5 (which bans AI systems that infer emotions in workplace contexts). This is one of the first European enforcement actions to invoke both regulations simultaneously.
Key quotes
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The decision...represents one of the first European enforcement actions to invoke both the General Data Protection Regulation and the EU AI Act.
Italy's Garante warns Myndoor that sharing aggregated employee stress data with employers could breach GDPR Article 9 and EU AI Act Article 5 prohibitions.
