Luísa Teixeira Alves

Digital markets; Work on digital platforms; Worker status in digital markets; fair and decent work condition in the platform economy; Directive 2024/2831; ILO Convention 193.

This text seeks to characterize the regulatory approaches expressed in Directive (EU) 2024/2831 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and in Convention No. 193 of the International Labour Organization, regarding the situation of people wo, in the context of digital markets, work on digital platforms. Both international instruments reveal an awareness that work on platforms, regardless of the corresponding contractual qualification, requires specific protection, due to the characteristics of the inherent service relationships. The text acknowledges that the issue of contractual qualification is neither the only nor the most relevant for working conditions on platforms to reach a satisfactory level of quality. Subsequently, it is noted that neither the Directive nor the Convention addresses the regulation of working conditions appropriate to the particularities of the sector.

Rui Caria

Digital pimping; Digital Prostitution; Online sex work; Digital platforms; OnlyFans; Criminal law.

Technological advances have created a growing gap between established law and practical reality. In this context, a new phenomenon has emerged in the digital sex market: third parties acting as agents or agencies for OnlyFans content creators, promoting their content and managing their pages in exchange for financial compensation. This study analyses the conduct of these agents in light of the crime of lenocínio (procuring/pimping) under Article 169 of the Portuguese Penal Code, with the aim of determining whether such conduct fulfils its objective elements. Following a description of the OnlyFans platform and agency operating models, a dogmatic analysis of the elements of fomenting, favouring and facilitating is conducted, concluding that they are fulfilled. The concept of prostitution is also addressed, and a notion of digital prostitution is proposed, based on the practice of sexually relevant acts mediated digitally with a sufficient degree of personalisation and user control to distinguish them from mere pornography.

Lucía del Saz Domínguez / Maria Raquel Guimarães

Travel Platforms, Civil Liability, Data Protection, DSA, Digital Consumer, Joint Responsibility, Decisive Influence.

This article analyzes the transformation of the civil liability regime and data protection within the travel booking platform sector (OTAs, metasearch engines, and P2P models). In contrast to the contractual self-definition strategy of these platforms as mere intermediaries, particular relevance is acquired by the doctrine of decisive influence as applied to the digital environment and, especially, by the provisions of Article 6(3) of the Digital Services Act (DSA), with regard to distance contracts concluded with consumers. Regarding the processing of personal data, a model of proactive accountability and joint controllership is proposed, moving beyond the fiction of technological neutrality whenever a predominant influence over the underlying business extends to the processing of personal data.

Graça Enes

Personal data; General Purpose AI models; Risk; Risk governance system; GDPR; AIA; Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI Models.

The development and operation of general-purpose AI models, especially GenAI models, are associated with the massive collection and processing of data, including personal data. Several problems emerge, whether regarding the scope of protection and the basis for such use, or the risks of leakage or "regurgitation" of personal information. The regulations in force, namely the General Data Protection Regulation and the AI Regulation, present limitations and raise uncertainties, but are also criticized for over-regulating and restricting innovation and competitiveness in the EU. The redefinition of the concept of personal data and the provision of legitimate interest as a basis for the use of personal data, included in the "Digital omnibus" proposals, promote legal certainty, but also favor model providers at the expense of personal data subjects.

Paula Gutiérrez Arboleda

Generative AI; Privacy by Design and by Default; Protection of Minors; AI Regulation; AI Ethics.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) has entered our lives without warning or anesthesia. The content available to our children in video games, social networks, and applications on any connected device exerts a power over them, capable of modifying their behaviors and decisions through personalization algorithms that meticulously identify the themes, characters, images, formats, and even sounds that capture their attention, fostering behavioral patterns that can generate addiction and even make them predictable. Developers and those responsible for AI-based recommendation systems prioritize functionality, design, and user experience over the protection of children’s rights and freedoms, hiding behind privacy policies that sometimes create a false sense of security; they claim not to share the information they collect with third parties and even go so far as to conceal international data transfers.

Rita Maia

Online intermediary services; professional users; P2B Regulation; Digital Omnibus; DSA; DMA. 

The growing regulation of the digital sector has led to the adoption of various legislative measures aimed at promoting a more transparent, fair, and competitive digital environment. It was precisely in this context that the European Commission presented, on November 19, 2025, the Digital Omnibus Proposal, as part of its legislative simplification strategy, proposing, among other changes, the repeal of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 (the P2B Regulation). In this article, we seek to critically analyze the framework of the aforementioned Regulation and the rationale behind this proposal, particularly its interaction with the DSA and the DMA.

Inês Neves

Digital Markets Act; General Data Protection Regulation; privacy and data protection; contestability and fairness; regulatory integration; dialogical enforcement.

Competition law and personal data protection are often treated as institutionally autonomous fields and, in some respects, as pursuing opposing aims. In digital markets, however, this separation is challenged by data-driven and data-intensive business models, network effects and forms of dependency that expose the role of data as a source of informational power. This article examines the Digital Markets Act (‘DMA’) in its relationship with the European Union (‘EU’) data protection framework, arguing against treating the two regimes in isolation. Owing to its regulatory autonomy, the DMA can overcome some of the objections raised concerning the proper scope of competition law. It does more than preserve the application of data protection rules through a “without prejudice” clause: it incorporates privacy into its regulatory architecture and integrates the corresponding requirements into the obligations imposed on gatekeepers, including through by-design compliance.

Tiago Morais Rocha

Digital omnibus package; simplification; deregulation; digital rights; General Data Protection Regulation.

The European Union's regulatory efforts in the digital domain can be described as a pendulum swinging from a period of normative expansion, initiated by the GDPR and reinforced by the DSA, DMA and AI Act — making regulation the cornerstone of European digital sovereignty and establishing the Union as a normative giant — to a period of retraction, prompted by the Letta and Draghi Reports and the presentation of the Digital Omnibus Package in November 2025. Under the banner of simplification and rationalization, the Commission is proposing genuine deregulation in certain areas, which will reduce the level of protection of already established digital rights. The lack of robust evidence, impact assessments and extensive public consultations calls into question the procedural legitimacy of the Omnibus packages, which ultimately impoverish participatory democracy.

Sabela Rocha Domínguez

Algorithmic tacit collusion; art. 101 TFEU; DMA; DSA; IA Regulation; Compliance by design.

The rise of digitalisation has led to the development of innovative business models whose primary asset is data and whose main tools are algorithmic mechanisms and machine learning architecture. The algorithmic and machine learning techniques developed and implemented by digital platforms are currently a key focus in the field of Competition law, as they could facilitate conduct detrimental to consumers and competition in the market. As regards the use of algorithms for price-setting, their widespread use has facilitated new forms of collusion that, it is said, escape’ the ‘traditional’ prohibitions of competition law, particularly of art. 101 TFEU. After revisiting the most recent literature on this topic, in relation to the case law of the CJUE and the national case law from Spain, it is analized if the European Union’s current legal framework is adequate to address this new form of collusion. It finds that it is difficult to classify tacit algorithmic collusion within the concept of a "concerted practice" under Article 101 TFEU. Meeting the requirements for the application of that article would necessitate a broad interpretation of the concept of concerted practice—entailing a corresponding risk of false positives—given the great difficulty in distinguishing parallel conduct from behavior that constitutes tacit collusion.

María Sánchez Jiménez

Bank secrecy; financial privacy; data protection; tax information; exchange of information; FASTER Directive.

The growing use of artificial intelligence and big data by tax authorities has led to an increasing demand for information relevant for tax purposes. At the same time, the widespread use of data exchange mechanisms, both nationally and internationally, has gradually weakened bank secrecy as a safeguard against the tax authorities’ powers to obtain such information. Against this background, Council Directive (EU) 2025/50 of 10 December 2024 (FASTER) introduces a new framework for the faster and safer application of withholding taxes on certain dividends and interest. The Directive expands the role of certified financial intermediaries with the collection, verification, retention and transmission of information to the Member State of source. This model has intensified the circulation of financial information and raised new questions regarding the protection of privacy.

Alejandra Suárez Sedano

Insurance contract; digitalisation; disclosure of risk-related information; risk assessment and selection; algorithms; personal data protection.

This paper analyses the impact of new technologies, Big Data and artificial intelligence on the pre-contractual stage of the insurance contract, from a comparative perspective between the Spanish and Portuguese legal systems. The digitalisation of the insurance sector has transformed the channels of communication, marketing and distribution of insurance products, but has also modified the processes through which insurers identify, assess and select risk. In this context, the paper examines the impact of these changes on the duty to disclose risk-related information before concluding the contract, whose legal configuration differs in Spain and Portugal, and considers the need to reinterpret its function in a context in which insurers have access to new sources of information and advanced analytical tools.