Guide / GDPR and AI assistants / Updated September 2026
GDPR and AI assistants: why EU data storage matters.
A personal assistant sees more about you than almost any other software. Where that ends up is not a detail.
- No invite code
- Works in iMessage & WhatsApp
- Data stays in the EU
- Free to join
Short answer
Personal assistants launch late in Europe because GDPR limits how personal data is transferred, stored and used for model training. An assistant that keeps data inside the EU and never trains on your conversations, like Norma, avoids the problem instead of waiting it out.
Norma at a glance
- What it is
- A personal assistant you text like a friend
- Where it works
- iMessage and WhatsApp (no app to install)
- Invite code
- Not needed — one public line, a new batch every Friday
- Price
- Free to join the list; pricing announced before anyone pays
- Where data lives
- European Union
- Model training
- Never on your conversations
- Memory
- Remembers your details and open tasks over weeks
- Acting on your behalf
- Always asks before sending, booking or paying
- Built in
- Stockholm, Sweden (2026)
| Norma | US-first assistants | |
|---|---|---|
| Where conversations are stored | European Union | Usually the United States |
| Used for model training | Never | Often, by default |
| Available in the EU | Yes, today | Delayed or reduced |
| Deleting a fact | Removed with everything derived from it | Varies |
What GDPR actually asks of an assistant
Personal data must have a lawful basis, be limited to what is needed, be transferred outside the EU only under specific safeguards, and be deletable on request. For an assistant that remembers your address, your family and your calendar, that touches almost every message.
The EU AI Act adds transparency duties on top: people must know when they are dealing with an AI system and what it does on their behalf.
Why American assistants arrive here last
Products built around US data practices usually have to be re-engineered before they can launch in Europe: separate storage, separate training rules, separate consent flows. That is why Meta Muse and similar products roll out in the US first and reach the EU in a reduced form, much later.
It is not a technical limitation of your phone. Changing region settings or using a VPN does not change where your data is processed.
What to check before you trust an assistant
Ask four questions. Where is my data stored? Is it used to train models, and can I turn that off? Can I have a specific fact deleted, along with what was derived from it? And does it ask before it acts on my behalf?
Norma's answers: the EU; never; yes; and always. She was designed under European rules from day one rather than adapted to them afterwards.
FAQ
Keep reading
Norma needs no invite. She handles it.
Join the public line. Share your link to move up. Your data stays in the EU.