Cyprus has notified the European Commission of the Cypriot authorities that enforce the protection of fundamental rights in relation to the use of high-risk Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, for the purposes of Article 77 of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act).
The designated Cypriot authorities are:
- Commissioner for Personal Data Protection
- Commissioner for Administration and the Protection of Human Rights (Ombudsman)
- Attorney-General of the Republic of Cyprus.
The EU AI Act categorizes AI systems based on risk levels and imposes specific obligations for high-risk applications, such as those used in healthcare, law enforcement, and critical infrastructure. Annex III of the Act identifies areas where AI systems are generally considered high-risk, including biometric identification, management of critical infrastructure, education, and access to essential services. However, an AI system that falls under one of these categories may not be considered high-risk if the provider can demonstrate that it poses no significant risk to health, safety, or fundamental rights.
Article 77 of the EU AI Act empowers the identified Cypriot authorities to access any documentation related to high-risk AI systems, when necessary for these authorities to effectively fulfill their mandates in Cyprus. If the documentation is insufficient to determine if an AI system infringes on fundamental rights, the relevant authority can request the market surveillance authority to conduct technical testing of the system.
Please contact us for any issue you may be facing on the EU AI Act or legal aspects of artificial intelligence applications.