ChatGPT: Italy says OpenAI's chatbot violates data protection rules

An Italian watchdog says ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot, violates data protection rules.

An investigation by the Italian Data Protection Authority (DPA) found data privacy breaches, which the BBC understands are linked to the collection of personal data and age protection.

The chatbot relies on receiving large amounts of data from the Internet.

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has 30 days to respond with a defense. The BBC has contacted OpenAI for comment.

Italy has taken a firm stance on data protection when it comes to ChatGPT.

It was the first Western country to ban the product in March 2023, due to privacy concerns.

ChatGPT was reinstated about four weeks later, after stating that it had successfully “addressed or clarified” the issues raised by the DPA.

The Italian Data Protection Authority launched a “fact-finding activity” at the time, which it says has now discovered data privacy breaches.

The Data Protection Authority said in a statement that it “concluded that the available evidence indicates violations of the provisions contained in the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation.” [General Data Protection Regulation]”.

It is associated with collecting large amounts of user data which is then used to train the algorithm.

The regulator is also concerned that younger users may be exposed to inappropriate content generated by the chatbot.

Under EU GDPR law, companies that violate the rules can be fined up to 4% of a company's total global sales.

The Italian Data Protection Authority works alongside the EU's European Data Protection Board – which has set up a website Special task force To monitor ChatGPT in April 2023.

At the time of ChatGPT's return to Italy in April 2023, the Italian regulator told the BBC that it “welcomed the measures implemented by OpenAI” but called for greater compliance.

In particular, a company spokesperson said it wanted more action on “implementing an age verification system and planning and implementing a media campaign to inform Italians of what happened as well as their right to opt out of the processing of their personal data for training.” Algorithms.”

An OpenAI spokesperson said at the time that it would continue talks with the regulator.

OpenAI has close ties to tech giant Microsoft, which has invested billions of dollars in the company.

Microsoft has integrated AI into its Bing search engine, as well as Office 365 apps like Word, Teams, and Outlook.

Additional reporting by Thomas Fabry.