Your life online
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How is the EU making it easier and safer for you?
Safer healthcare across borders
A cybersecure society
A secure digital identity
Building trustworthy AI
More choice, fairer competition
Fighting illegal content
You are reading this story on a digital device.
You got here either via social media or a search engine.
You probably shop online, at least occasionally.
You are so connected that you donât notice it anymore.
The European Union is doing a lot to make your digital life safer and easier - improving your access to services, making e-shopping more secure, creating fairer competition for digital businesses, securing your connected devices, and much more.
Scroll down to find out how â
Safer healthcare across borders
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Have you ever fallen sick whilst on holiday abroad and forgotten the name of the medicine that always helps you feel better quickly? Do you travel often and want to easily access your digital medical records, no matter where you are?
Access and share personal
health data across the EU
In March 2025, the european health data space (EHDS) came into effect, a strong pillar of the European Health Union. The EHDS will enable you to access and share personal health data across the EU in a safe and efficient way, while respecting your privacy.
A doctor in Denmark will be able to access the medical records of a Portuguese citizen who fell ill while on holiday in Copenhagen. A German patient will be able to buy medicines prescribed by her regular doctor in a Croatian pharmacy.
The initiative will also benefit the research community and legislators. Certain anonymised health data will be made available to scientists and policymakers for research and innovation purposes, with the goal of improving treatments and patient care.
Better access to and use of health data is expected to save the EU around EUR 11 billion over 10 years.
A cybersecure society
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NicolĂĄs is a father of two little boys. When his baby sleeps in his cot, NicolĂĄs likes to keep an eye on him with the help of a baby monitor. He has deliberately chosen a model that is not connected to the internet, instead of a Wi-Fi-enabled one, to reduce the risk of the camera being hacked.
Although heâs very happy with the device, monitors without Wi-Fi donât work at a distance. If he goes out and leaves the kid with a babysitter, the connection is lost. On those occasions an internet-connected device would be more convenient.
It will be much harder
for hackers to target
connected devices
The cyber resilience act, in force since 2024, is the first-ever EU law to introduce cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements that are connected to the internet. The aim is to make devices such as TVs, smart watches and home cameras safer to better protect EU business users and consumers.
Under the new rules, manufacturers will be responsible for their productsâ cybersecurity throughout their lifecycle. They will have to provide security support and regular software updates to address possible threats. You will also be able to access information about the cybersecurity of the products you buy and use.
This is particularly important as the use of devices connected to the internet, like smart TVs, smart watches or game consoles, is expected to keep growing.
A secure digital identity
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Vicente and Stephanie come from two different countries and live in a third one, far away from home.
After three years of dating, she proposed. The registry office asked them to submit official documents from their home country, which they requested online and received by post weeks later, just in time for the wedding!
After the big day, they had to put the proof of marriage and other documents in an envelope and send them to their consulates, so that their home countries could recognise their marriage abroad. Not the quickest or safest way of handing official documentsâŚ
Carry all your identity documents
with you at all times
Thanks to the european digital identity wallet, launched in 2024, you will be able to carry all your identity documents with you wherever you go, use them to prove your identity and easily share official documents across EU borders.
Procedures such as requesting a birth certificate, boarding a plane, or asking for a loan will become simpler and quicker.
The EU e-ID will be user-friendly and highly secure. It will also respect data privacy: you will keep full control of your data and will be able to share only what is necessary â like proving your age without revealing your name, nationality or gender.
Today, 24 countries in the EU have electronic identity schemes that are valid in other EU countries, covering 94 % of EU population. The objective is to reach all 27 member states.
Building trustworthy AI
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Imagine your loan request was refused because a machine scanned your recent e-shopping habits and said ânoâ. Or imagine that a machine has the final say on whether youâre invited or not to an interview for your dream job, based on your online profile.
Sounds scary, doesnât it?
AI solutions used in the EU will
be ethical and respect
your privacy
In 2024, the artificial intelligence act (AI act) became a law to ensure that the AI solutions used in the EU are ethical and respect our privacy and fundamental European values. All of this without undermining competitiveness and allowing businesses in the EU to make full use of the potential of AI technologies.
What does it mean in practice?
Systems considered as threat to people's safety, livelihoods and individual rights will be banned (AI systems and applications used for social scoring or applications that manipulate human behaviour to circumvent usersâ free will are examples of the types of AI systems that will be prohibited).
High-risk systems (i.e., those used in educational or vocational training, employment, HR, law enforcement, migration, asylum and border control management) will have to meet strict criteria before they can be put on the EU market.
Systems with limited risk (i.e., chatbots) will be allowed, but users will have to be aware that they interact with AI.
Solutions with minimal risk (most AI systems) will be available as before.
More choice, fairer competition
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Sophie Dembinski believes in protecting our environment and is a staunch supporter of defending our privacy.
She has managed to align her job with her beliefs, working for the worldâs largest not-for-profit search engine. It channels its profits into climate action, mainly tree-planting projects. So far, over 240 million trees have been planted across 35 countries worldwide.
But this alternative search engine had limits, owing to the dominant position of one player in this sector.
In 2022 the EU took important steps towards providing a level playing field for all digital companies, regardless of their size.
The DMA helps smaller companies
and start-ups compete
with very large players
The digital markets act (DMA) lays down clear rules for big platforms (gatekeepers) - a list of âdosâ and âdonâtsâ - to stop them from imposing unfair conditions on businesses. For example, gatekeepers are no longer able to rank their own services and products higher than similar services or products offered by others.
The innovative startups can gain a bigger market share and provide new, innovative products and services.
The new law also makes EU cross-border e-commerce easier. The DMA obliges gatekeepers to offer customers access to a broader scope of services. This means more choice for you and fairer competition for businesses.
This is particularly relevant because more and more Europeans are shopping online. In 2024, 77% of internet users in the EU bought something online at least once. E-commerce is a growing sector of the EU economy. In 2023, its turnover reached âŹ608 billion, around 6% more than the year before.
Fighting illegal content
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Katoucha lives in Paris and likes bargain hunting.
She once ordered a new mobile phone online. After waiting for it impatiently, she received a counterfeit of poor quality.
In 2022, the EU introduced the digital services act (DSA) to fight illegal and counterfeit goods.
The DSA keeps you safe from
illegal goods, content or services
The DSA focuses on keeping users safe from illegal goods, content or services, and protecting their fundamental rights online. The rules expand and clarify a set of responsibilities for online businesses operating in the EU â no matter where they are based.
The principle is simple: what is illegal offline should be illegal online too.
Furthermore, under the DSA, social media and online marketplaces have clearer responsibilities concerning content and goods on their platforms. The DSA sets better rules for content moderation to help tackle hate speech, disinformation and misinformation.
Almost 5% of all EU imports are counterfeit products, with an estimated worth of over âŹ99 billion. This affects every sector, from cosmetics and toys, electronics and clothing to pharmaceutical products. More than 50% of counterfeit goods seized at the EU borders stem from e-commerce.
Read more about
The world's first law on AI
The EU's artificial intelligence act aims to ensure that AI systems operating in the EU are safe, ethical and trustworthy. More
The digital markets act
The digital markets act promotes fair competition among all digital platforms, regardless of their size, to increase choice for consumers and offer new opportunities for small businesses. More
The digital services act
Digital companies in the EU are accountable for the content posted on their platforms and must implement measures to better protect users from illegal content or services. More
This story is produced by the General Secretariat of the Council. The Secretariat serves both the European Council, which is the EU institution that establishes the general political direction and priorities of the European Union, and the Council of the EU, which brings together national government ministers from each of the 27 EU countries. Ministers meet in different configurations to discuss and decide on legislation in many policy areas, such as transport, trade and the environment. Visit our website
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