The BBC is aware that data privacy violations were discovered during an investigation by Italy’s Data Protection Authority (DPA) and are connected to the gathering of personal information and age restrictions.
The chatbot is dependent on receiving a lot of data from the internet.
OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, has 30 days to provide a defense. OpenAI has been contacted by the BBC for comment.
Regarding ChatGPT, Italy has adopted a strong stance on data protection.
In March 2023, it was the first nation in the West to ban the product due to privacy concerns.
Four weeks or so later, ChatGPT was brought back, claiming to have “addressed or clarified” the DPA’s concerns.
The DPA in Italy said that since it began its “fact-finding activity” at the time, it has discovered violations of data privacy.
In a statement, the DPA stated that it “concluded that the available evidence pointed to the existence of breaches of the provisions contained in the EU GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation]” .
They have to do with gathering user data in large quantities for the purpose of training an algorithm.
The regulator is particularly worried that the chatbot may expose younger users to inappropriate content.
Businesses who violate the EU’s GDPR law risk fines of up to 4% of their worldwide sales.
The European Union’s European Data Protection Board, which established a special task force to oversee ChatGPT, collaborates with Italy’s DPA.
The Italian regulator informed the BBC that it “welcomed the measures OpenAI implemented” when ChatGPT was reintroduced in Italy in April 2023, but it also demanded even greater compliance.
A representative for the organization stated that greater action was specifically desired in relation to “putting in place an age verification system and organizing and carrying out an information campaign to educate Italians about what happened and their right to refuse the processing of their personal data for algorithm training.”
At the time, a representative for OpenAI stated that discussions with the regulator would go forward.
Microsoft, the massive IT business, has a tight relationship with OpenAI and has contributed billions of dollars to the startup.
AI has been included by Microsoft into its Office 365 programs, including Word, Teams, and Outlook, as well as its Bing search engine.
