Skip to main content
Praxikon
Back to the explorer
ObligationApplicablev1.0.0

Article 78: confidentiality of what you submit to an authority

The Commission, the market surveillance authorities, the notified bodies and everyone involved in the application of the Regulation respect the confidentiality of what they obtain in carrying out their tasks, and in doing so expressly protect the intellectual property rights, the confidential business information and the trade secrets of a natural or legal person, including source code. They may request only data that is strictly necessary, must secure it, and must delete it as soon as it is no longer needed. For you this is therefore not a duty but a protection, with a limit: the exception in Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2016/943 remains, and the provision leaves the exchange of information and the dissemination of warnings between authorities untouched.

The official source remains authoritative. This is general information about obligations and not legal advice. See this object on the map

Address and citation

This object has an address of its own that is never renamed or reused. Store the identifier in your own file, not the title or the link.

Identifier
praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-78-confidentiality
Payload hash (sha256)
fe3d73fa9cc874bc4fc12b0f664ff4e60e68de553dfc7bf0c64c38bc1350c8e3

Citation line

Praxikon, "Article 78: confidentiality of what you submit to an authority", praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-78-confidentiality@1.0.0, dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.2.0 (schema 1.5.0), effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z, known_at 2026-09-06T00:00:00.000Z, sha256 fe3d73fa9cc874bc4fc12b0f664ff4e60e68de553dfc7bf0c64c38bc1350c8e3
Version
1.0.0
Legal time (effective_at)
2 August 2025
Knowledge time (known_at)
6 September 2026
Closed on
Not closed
Topics
enforcement, governance

Review status: Placed against the official source (6 September 2026). Next check due by 5 March 2027. The check date is the knowledge date of this version; no later recheck has been recorded.

Who must act and who is affected

On an obligation the addressee is recorded separately from the party that is merely affected. That difference decides who a supervisory authority addresses and who has work to do without the duty resting on them.

No duty holder assigned

The addressee falls outside the roles this dataset models. The duty exists, it just does not rest on a role recorded here.

Duty holder

Not recorded on this object.

Affected actor

Oversight

Evidence owner

Not recorded on this object.

What this object links to

Every relation appears below as a path: from the source with its locator, through the conditions and exceptions of the object carrying the relation, to the consequence. A locator belongs to a statement in the data and not to a relation, so the source is the source anchor of the carrying object.

Who is affected without being the addressee

3 of 3 shown

This role is practically affected without being the addressee: it receives the information, has to cooperate, or absorbs the consequences in its own process.

  1. Source

    Official fact on this object, with its locator.

    • EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689

      Locator: Article 78(1)-(5)

      praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689

      Open official source

    Via

    • Condition | allApplies to all information and data obtained by the Commission, the market surveillance authorities, the notified bodies and any other natural or legal person involved in the application of this Regulation in carrying out their tasks and activities. The protection operates in accordance with Union or national law and not on its own.
    • Condition | allParagraph 2 limits what an authority may request: only data that is strictly necessary for the assessment of the risk posed by AI systems and for the exercise of its powers in accordance with this Regulation and with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Two follow-on duties attach to that: adequate and effective cybersecurity measures, and deletion as soon as the data is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained.
    • ExceptionThe protection of intellectual property, confidential business information and trade secrets, including source code, applies except in the cases referred to in Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2016/943. Point (a) of paragraph 1 says so in as many words.
    • ExceptionParagraph 4 provides that paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 do not affect the rights or obligations of the Commission, the Member States and their relevant authorities, or those of notified bodies, with regard to the exchange of information and the dissemination of warnings, including in the context of cross-border cooperation, nor the obligations of the parties concerned to provide information under criminal law of the Member States. Confidentiality under this article is therefore not a duty of silence between authorities.

    As long as this exception is not ruled out, the outcome stays conditional and you have to establish it yourself.

    Consequence

Who supervises this

1 of 1 shown

This role supervises and receives the notifications. It is the institutional role, not the national body that fills it.

  1. Source

    Official fact on this object, with its locator.

    • EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689

      Locator: Article 78(1)-(5)

      praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689

      Open official source

    Via

    • Condition | allApplies to all information and data obtained by the Commission, the market surveillance authorities, the notified bodies and any other natural or legal person involved in the application of this Regulation in carrying out their tasks and activities. The protection operates in accordance with Union or national law and not on its own.
    • Condition | allParagraph 2 limits what an authority may request: only data that is strictly necessary for the assessment of the risk posed by AI systems and for the exercise of its powers in accordance with this Regulation and with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Two follow-on duties attach to that: adequate and effective cybersecurity measures, and deletion as soon as the data is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained.
    • ExceptionThe protection of intellectual property, confidential business information and trade secrets, including source code, applies except in the cases referred to in Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2016/943. Point (a) of paragraph 1 says so in as many words.
    • ExceptionParagraph 4 provides that paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 do not affect the rights or obligations of the Commission, the Member States and their relevant authorities, or those of notified bodies, with regard to the exchange of information and the dissemination of warnings, including in the context of cross-border cooperation, nor the obligations of the parties concerned to provide information under criminal law of the Member States. Confidentiality under this article is therefore not a duty of silence between authorities.

    As long as this exception is not ruled out, the outcome stays conditional and you have to establish it yourself.

    Consequence

What has to be done

1 of 1 shown

This is what concretely has to be done under the obligation.

  1. Source

    Official fact on this object, with its locator.

    • EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689

      Locator: Article 78(1)-(5)

      praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689

      Open official source

    Via

    • Condition | allApplies to all information and data obtained by the Commission, the market surveillance authorities, the notified bodies and any other natural or legal person involved in the application of this Regulation in carrying out their tasks and activities. The protection operates in accordance with Union or national law and not on its own.
    • Condition | allParagraph 2 limits what an authority may request: only data that is strictly necessary for the assessment of the risk posed by AI systems and for the exercise of its powers in accordance with this Regulation and with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Two follow-on duties attach to that: adequate and effective cybersecurity measures, and deletion as soon as the data is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained.
    • ExceptionThe protection of intellectual property, confidential business information and trade secrets, including source code, applies except in the cases referred to in Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2016/943. Point (a) of paragraph 1 says so in as many words.
    • ExceptionParagraph 4 provides that paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 do not affect the rights or obligations of the Commission, the Member States and their relevant authorities, or those of notified bodies, with regard to the exchange of information and the dissemination of warnings, including in the context of cross-border cooperation, nor the obligations of the parties concerned to provide information under criminal law of the Member States. Confidentiality under this article is therefore not a duty of silence between authorities.

    As long as this exception is not ruled out, the outcome stays conditional and you have to establish it yourself.

    Consequence

What has to be recorded

1 of 1 shown

This is what has to be in the file to show that the action was carried out.

  1. Source

    Official fact on this object, with its locator.

    • EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689

      Locator: Article 78(1)-(5)

      praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689

      Open official source

    Via

    • Condition | allApplies to all information and data obtained by the Commission, the market surveillance authorities, the notified bodies and any other natural or legal person involved in the application of this Regulation in carrying out their tasks and activities. The protection operates in accordance with Union or national law and not on its own.
    • Condition | allParagraph 2 limits what an authority may request: only data that is strictly necessary for the assessment of the risk posed by AI systems and for the exercise of its powers in accordance with this Regulation and with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Two follow-on duties attach to that: adequate and effective cybersecurity measures, and deletion as soon as the data is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained.
    • ExceptionThe protection of intellectual property, confidential business information and trade secrets, including source code, applies except in the cases referred to in Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2016/943. Point (a) of paragraph 1 says so in as many words.
    • ExceptionParagraph 4 provides that paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 do not affect the rights or obligations of the Commission, the Member States and their relevant authorities, or those of notified bodies, with regard to the exchange of information and the dissemination of warnings, including in the context of cross-border cooperation, nor the obligations of the parties concerned to provide information under criminal law of the Member States. Confidentiality under this article is therefore not a duty of silence between authorities.

    As long as this exception is not ruled out, the outcome stays conditional and you have to establish it yourself.

    Consequence

What keeps it in place

1 of 1 shown

This is what keeps compliance in place over time, periodic or event-driven.

  1. Source

    Official fact on this object, with its locator.

    • EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689

      Locator: Article 78(1)-(5)

      praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689

      Open official source

    Via

    • Condition | allApplies to all information and data obtained by the Commission, the market surveillance authorities, the notified bodies and any other natural or legal person involved in the application of this Regulation in carrying out their tasks and activities. The protection operates in accordance with Union or national law and not on its own.
    • Condition | allParagraph 2 limits what an authority may request: only data that is strictly necessary for the assessment of the risk posed by AI systems and for the exercise of its powers in accordance with this Regulation and with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Two follow-on duties attach to that: adequate and effective cybersecurity measures, and deletion as soon as the data is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained.
    • ExceptionThe protection of intellectual property, confidential business information and trade secrets, including source code, applies except in the cases referred to in Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2016/943. Point (a) of paragraph 1 says so in as many words.
    • ExceptionParagraph 4 provides that paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 do not affect the rights or obligations of the Commission, the Member States and their relevant authorities, or those of notified bodies, with regard to the exchange of information and the dissemination of warnings, including in the context of cross-border cooperation, nor the obligations of the parties concerned to provide information under criminal law of the Member States. Confidentiality under this article is therefore not a duty of silence between authorities.

    As long as this exception is not ruled out, the outcome stays conditional and you have to establish it yourself.

    Consequence

Public tools

1 of 1 shown

This is the public route a reader can actually use.

  1. Source

    Official fact on this object, with its locator.

    • EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689

      Locator: Article 78(1)-(5)

      praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689

      Open official source

    Via

    • Condition | allApplies to all information and data obtained by the Commission, the market surveillance authorities, the notified bodies and any other natural or legal person involved in the application of this Regulation in carrying out their tasks and activities. The protection operates in accordance with Union or national law and not on its own.
    • Condition | allParagraph 2 limits what an authority may request: only data that is strictly necessary for the assessment of the risk posed by AI systems and for the exercise of its powers in accordance with this Regulation and with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Two follow-on duties attach to that: adequate and effective cybersecurity measures, and deletion as soon as the data is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained.
    • ExceptionThe protection of intellectual property, confidential business information and trade secrets, including source code, applies except in the cases referred to in Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2016/943. Point (a) of paragraph 1 says so in as many words.
    • ExceptionParagraph 4 provides that paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 do not affect the rights or obligations of the Commission, the Member States and their relevant authorities, or those of notified bodies, with regard to the exchange of information and the dissemination of warnings, including in the context of cross-border cooperation, nor the obligations of the parties concerned to provide information under criminal law of the Member States. Confidentiality under this article is therefore not a duty of silence between authorities.

    As long as this exception is not ruled out, the outcome stays conditional and you have to establish it yourself.

    Consequence

What points at this object

Objects hanging off this obligation

4 of 4 shown

The object belongs to this obligation. The source line it hangs off sits there.

  1. Source

    This object carries no official fact of its own. The source line below sits on the obligation it hangs off; the link itself is recorded editorially.

    • EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689

      Locator: Article 78(1)-(5)

      praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689

      Open official source

    Via

    • Condition | allArises on every submission to a market surveillance authority, a notified body, the Commission or the AI Office, and on every registration part of which lands in the secure non-public section of the EU database.

    Relation recorded on: Mark and register what you submit to an authority or body

    Consequence

  2. Source

    This object carries no official fact of its own. The source line below sits on the obligation it hangs off; the link itself is recorded editorially.

    • EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689

      Locator: Article 78(1)-(5)

      praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689

      Open official source

    Via

    No condition or exception recorded on this object.

    Relation recorded on: Review before handing over source code or trade secrets

    Consequence

  3. Source

    This object carries no official fact of its own. The source line below sits on the obligation it hangs off; the link itself is recorded editorially.

    • EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689

      Locator: Article 78(1)-(5)

      praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689

      Open official source

    Via

    No condition or exception recorded on this object.

    Relation recorded on: Register of submissions to authorities

    Consequence

  4. Source

    This object carries no official fact of its own. The source line below sits on the obligation it hangs off; the link itself is recorded editorially.

    • EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689

      Locator: Article 78(1)-(5)

      praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689

      Open official source

    Via

    No condition or exception recorded on this object.

    Relation recorded on: Full text of Article 78

    Consequence

What this object states

Official fact

Attributable to a named primary source, with a locator. Where they differ, the official source prevails.

  • Paragraph 1 provides that the Commission, market surveillance authorities and notified bodies and any other natural or legal person involved in the application of this Regulation shall, in accordance with Union or national law, respect the confidentiality of information and data obtained in carrying out their tasks and activities in such a manner as to protect, in particular: (a) the intellectual property rights and confidential business information or trade secrets of a natural or legal person, including source code, except in the cases referred to in Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2016/943; (b) the effective implementation of this Regulation, in particular for the purposes of inspections, investigations or audits; (c) public and national security interests; (d) the conduct of criminal or administrative proceedings; (e) information classified pursuant to Union or national law. Paragraph 2 provides that the authorities involved in the application of this Regulation pursuant to paragraph 1 shall request only data that is strictly necessary for the assessment of the risk posed by AI systems and for the exercise of their powers in accordance with this Regulation and with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, that they shall put in place adequate and effective cybersecurity measures to protect the security and confidentiality of the information and data obtained, and that they shall delete the data collected as soon as it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, in accordance with applicable Union or national law.

  • Paragraph 3 provides that, without prejudice to paragraphs 1 and 2, information exchanged on a confidential basis between the national competent authorities or between national competent authorities and the Commission shall not be disclosed without prior consultation of the originating national competent authority and the deployer when high-risk AI systems referred to in point 1, 6 or 7 of Annex III are used by law enforcement, border control, immigration or asylum authorities and when such disclosure would jeopardise public and national security interests. This exchange of information shall not cover sensitive operational data in relation to the activities of law enforcement, border control, immigration or asylum authorities. The second subparagraph of paragraph 3 provides that when the law enforcement, immigration or asylum authorities are providers of high-risk AI systems referred to in point 1, 6 or 7 of Annex III, the technical documentation referred to in Annex IV shall remain within the premises of those authorities, that those authorities shall ensure that the market surveillance authorities referred to in Article 74(8) and (9), as applicable, can, upon request, immediately access the documentation or obtain a copy thereof, and that only staff of the market surveillance authority holding the appropriate level of security clearance shall be allowed to access that documentation or any copy thereof.

  • Paragraph 4 provides that paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not affect the rights or obligations of the Commission, Member States and their relevant authorities, as well as those of notified bodies, with regard to the exchange of information and the dissemination of warnings, including in the context of cross-border cooperation, nor shall they affect the obligations of the parties concerned to provide information under criminal law of the Member States. Paragraph 5 provides that the Commission and Member States may exchange, where necessary and in accordance with relevant provisions of international and trade agreements, confidential information with regulatory authorities of third countries with which they have concluded bilateral or multilateral confidentiality arrangements guaranteeing an adequate level of confidentiality.

Our interpretation

Our own reading. It can change without the law changing, and it is not the position of a supervisory authority.

  • Read this article as the answer to the question your supplier asks and that you ask yourself as soon as you have to hand something over. The protection is real and it names source code expressly, which is unusually explicit in Union law. But it is a duty of the recipient and not a right of refusal for the party submitting. Article 21(1) requires the provider, upon a reasoned request, to give all the information and documentation necessary to demonstrate conformity; Article 78 does not say you may withhold anything, it says what the recipient must do afterwards. Anyone who inverts that and refuses on grounds of confidentiality is legally empty-handed. Two limits on top, because they get missed in practice. The first is Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2016/943: that exception sits verbatim in point (a) and it covers, among other things, exercising the right to freedom of expression and information and revealing misconduct in the general public interest. The second is paragraph 4: between authorities, and when disseminating warnings, confidentiality does not operate as a lock. Your file can therefore reach another Member State without that being a breach. What does work in your favour is paragraph 2. That is a strict necessity test on the request itself, with a retention limit attached: deletion as soon as the data is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained. That is a question you can put to an authority and whose answer you can record.

  • There is an asymmetry in this article that is rarely noticed. Paragraph 3 gives one set of parties a heavy extra protection: where a high-risk system from point 1, 6 or 7 of Annex III is used by a law enforcement, border control, immigration or asylum authority, information exchanged on a confidential basis may not be disclosed without prior consultation of the originating authority and the deployer, and the technical documentation stays physically within the premises of that authority where it is itself the provider. For a commercial provider in exactly the same Annex III areas that arrangement does not apply. The practical conclusion is not that one is better protected than the other, but that you need to know which side you are on: if you supply such an authority, your documentation travels a different path from your own archive, and you settle that path in the contract rather than after the fact. Note also what this article does not govern. It says nothing about the public availability of the EU database in Article 71, whose public part is meant to be found, and nothing about what a deployer must explain to an affected person under Article 86. Confidentiality towards a regulator and transparency towards a citizen are two separate tracks in this Regulation, and it is a mistake to try to close one with the other.

    • Locator: Article 21(1); Article 74(8) and (9); Article 113, second paragraphpraxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689Open official source

Recommended step

A practical step we consider appropriate. Not an obligation following from the Regulation.

  • Mark on every submission which part you regard as confidential business information, trade secret or source code, and why, and keep a register of what you handed to whom on what date. That register is your only starting point if you later want to know whether something left the circle. When asked for additional data, ask about the necessity within the meaning of paragraph 2 and about the purpose for which the data is obtained, and record the answer; that is not a refusal and it is the only way to be able to invoke the retention limit of paragraph 2 later. Put in supplier contracts who receives a request from an authority, who decides what is handed over, and that the other party is informed within an agreed period. If you supply a law enforcement, border control, immigration or asylum authority, record where the technical documentation stays physically and who has access to it. Finally, do not assume that confidentiality releases you from Article 21: the duty to deliver on request stands apart from the recipient’s duty to handle what is delivered with care.

    • Locator: Article 21(1); Article 74(8) and (9); Article 113, second paragraphpraxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689Open official source

When this applies

  1. 1Applies to all information and data obtained by the Commission, the market surveillance authorities, the notified bodies and any other natural or legal person involved in the application of this Regulation in carrying out their tasks and activities. The protection operates in accordance with Union or national law and not on its own.
  2. 2Paragraph 2 limits what an authority may request: only data that is strictly necessary for the assessment of the risk posed by AI systems and for the exercise of its powers in accordance with this Regulation and with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Two follow-on duties attach to that: adequate and effective cybersecurity measures, and deletion as soon as the data is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained.

When this does not apply

  • The protection of intellectual property, confidential business information and trade secrets, including source code, applies except in the cases referred to in Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2016/943. Point (a) of paragraph 1 says so in as many words.
  • Paragraph 4 provides that paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 do not affect the rights or obligations of the Commission, the Member States and their relevant authorities, or those of notified bodies, with regard to the exchange of information and the dissemination of warnings, including in the context of cross-border cooperation, nor the obligations of the parties concerned to provide information under criminal law of the Member States. Confidentiality under this article is therefore not a duty of silence between authorities.

Referring to this object

Citation block

Copy this reference into your advice, article or file. The identifier, the version and the hash keep the statement findable later, even once the dataset has moved on.

Reference

Praxikon, "Article 78: confidentiality of what you submit to an authority",
praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-78-confidentiality@1.0.0,
dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.2.0 (schema 1.5.0),
effective_at 2025-08-02T00:00:00.000Z, known_at 2026-09-06T00:00:00.000Z,
sha256 fe3d73fa9cc874bc4fc12b0f664ff4e60e68de553dfc7bf0c64c38bc1350c8e3,
https://www.praxikon.com/en/verkenner/obligation/article-78-confidentiality
(https://www.praxikon.com/api/v1/obligations?id=praxikon%3Aeu%3Aai-act%3Aobligation%3Aarticle-78-confidentiality&effective_at=2025-08-02&known_at=2026-09-06&lang=en, accessed 2026-09-21)

Short form

praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-78-confidentiality@1.0.0 (sha256 fe3d73fa)

BibTeX

@misc{praxikon-eu-ai-act-obligation-article-78-confidentiality-1-0-0,
  author       = {{Praxikon}},
  title        = {Article 78: confidentiality of what you submit to an authority},
  year         = {2026},
  version      = {1.0.0},
  number       = {praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-78-confidentiality},
  howpublished = {AI Act Change \& Evidence Graph, dataset 2.2.0, schema 1.5.0},
  note         = {effective_at 2025-08-02T00:00:00.000Z; known_at 2026-09-06T00:00:00.000Z; sha256 fe3d73fa9cc874bc4fc12b0f664ff4e60e68de553dfc7bf0c64c38bc1350c8e3},
  url          = {https://www.praxikon.com/en/verkenner/obligation/article-78-confidentiality},
  urldate      = {2026-09-21},
  language     = {en}
}

CSL JSON

[
  {
    "id": "praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-78-confidentiality@1.0.0",
    "type": "dataset",
    "title": "Article 78: confidentiality of what you submit to an authority",
    "container-title": "AI Act Change & Evidence Graph",
    "publisher": "Praxikon",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "number": "praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-78-confidentiality",
    "URL": "https://www.praxikon.com/en/verkenner/obligation/article-78-confidentiality",
    "language": "en",
    "issued": {
      "date-parts": [
        [
          2026,
          9,
          6
        ]
      ]
    },
    "accessed": {
      "date-parts": [
        [
          2026,
          9,
          21
        ]
      ]
    },
    "note": "dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.2.0; schema 1.5.0; effective_at 2025-08-02T00:00:00.000Z; known_at 2026-09-06T00:00:00.000Z; sha256 fe3d73fa9cc874bc4fc12b0f664ff4e60e68de553dfc7bf0c64c38bc1350c8e3; retrieved_from https://www.praxikon.com/api/v1/obligations?id=praxikon%3Aeu%3Aai-act%3Aobligation%3Aarticle-78-confidentiality&effective_at=2025-08-02&known_at=2026-09-06&lang=en; licence https://www.praxikon.com/nl/legal/terms"
  }
]

How to verify a reference later is set out in the methodology. Terms

For agents and integrations

This page and the machine output come from the same object and the same two time axes.

Open as JSONOpen as JSON-LDHuman explanationRead the methodology