Brussels Privacy Symposium 2025 Report – A Data Protection (R)evolution?

Co-Author: Margherita Corrado

Editor: Bianca Ioana-Marcu

This year’s Brussels Privacy Symposium, held on 14 October 2025, brought together stakeholders from across Europe and beyond for a conversation about the GDPR’s role within the EU’s evolving digital framework. Co-organized jointly by the Future of Privacy Forum and the Brussels Privacy Hub of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the ninth edition convened experts from academia, data protection authorities, EU institutions, industry, and civil society to discuss Europe’s shifting regulatory landscape, under the umbrella title of A Data Protection (R)evolution?

The opening keynote delivered by Ana Gallego (Director General, DG JUST, European Commission) explored how the GDPR continues to anchor the EU’s digital rulebook, even as the European Commission pursues targeted simplification measures, and how the GDPR interacts other legislative instruments such as the DSA, DGA, and the AI Act, framing them not as overlapping frameworks, but rather complementary pillars that reinforce the EU’s evolving digital framework. 

Across the three expert panels, the guest speakers underlined a shift from rewriting the GDPR to refining its implementation through targeted adjustments, stronger regulatory cooperation, and clarified guidance on issues such as legitimate interests for AI training and the CJEU decision on pseudonymization. The final panel placed Data Protection Authorities at the center of Europe’s future in AI governance, reinforcing GDPR safeguards and guiding AI Act harmonization. 

A series of lightning talks looked at the challenges posed by large language models and automated decision-making, emphasizing the need for lifecycle-based risk management, robust oversight. In a guest speaker talk, Professor Norman Sadeh addressed the growing role of AI agents, and the need for interoperable standards and protocols to support user autonomy in increasingly automated environments.

European Data Protection Supervisor Wojciech Wiewiórowski and Professor Gianclaudio Malgieri closed the ninth edition of the Symposium with a dialogue reflecting on the need to safeguard fundamental rights amid ongoing calls for simplification.

In the Report of the Brussels Privacy Symposium 2025, readers will find insights from these discussions, along with additional highlights from the panels, workshops, and lightning talks that dived into the broader EU digital architecture.