AI and privacy: what the Belgian DPA’s 2026 publication can offer law firms
The brochure published in April provides a starting point for client discussions and for organising a firm’s own use of AI.
A starting point for understandable questions
On 13 April 2026, Belgium’s Data Protection Authority announced a brochure on AI’s impact on privacy as part of its AI and data protection series. It is aimed at citizens. A law firm can use it as an educational starting point before analysing a particular processing activity.
Our proposed approach begins with an actual task: what information moves, to whom and for what purpose? Accessible language helps a client describe how the organisation operates. The lawyer can then examine the points requiring more precise legal classification.
A positive example: preparing a supplier meeting
A small association is considering a tool to sort incoming enquiries. In this fictional example, the lawyer uses an abstract project description with AI to prepare a questionnaire. Questions cover necessary data, recipients, retention periods and ways to correct an error.
Preparation does not replace the supplier’s answers. It does help prevent the meeting from stopping at a broad question about compliance. Each answer is retained with the document or commitment supporting it. Unanswered points stay visible instead of being treated as settled.
Reduce data before expanding use
A trial can begin with fictional text and representative situations. The firm checks whether the tool can classify a request without receiving a person’s name, address or sensitive information. Where data proves necessary, its use receives separate assessment.
AI can also help rewrite a notice in everyday language. The simplified version is compared with the approved text to check that no condition or right has disappeared. The benefit is improved understanding without silently changing the meaning of the information provided.
Make trust a concrete product requirement
For Mashaah LLC, AILawyer’s publisher and developer, explaining uses and limitations raises practical design questions. For the lawyer using a service, the decisive question remains verifiable: which safeguards are actually available for this task and these data? A general promise of security does not adequately answer it.
Sources and references
General information. Application to a matter depends on its facts and the rules in force.
