Image: (APA/AFP/LIONEL BONAVENTURE)
This was decided by the Italian authority for the protection of personal data on Friday with immediate effect. Specifically, OpenAI, the US company that developed and manages the ChatGPT platform, has restricted the processing of Italian users’ data. At the same time, the authority initiated a preliminary investigation.
Legal basis is missing
The decision was justified by the lack of information for users, but above all by the lack of a legal basis that would justify the massive collection and storage of personal data. ChatGPT, the best-known artificial intelligence software capable of simulating and processing human conversations, suffered a data breach on March 20 affecting users’ conversations and the payment information of subscribers to its paid service .
The Italian authority noted that the users and all those whose data is collected by OpenAI have not been informed, but above all that there is no legal basis that allows the massive collection and storage of personal data for the purpose of “training” the Algorithms underlying the operation of the platform justify. In addition, as the reviews have shown, the information provided by ChatGPT does not always correspond to the actual data, which leads to inaccurate processing of personal data.
No age filter
Although, according to the conditions published by OpenAI, the service is aimed at people over the age of 13, the authority points out that the lack of a filter to verify the age of users means that minors receive answers that are completely inappropriate for their level of development and self-confidence are unsuitable.
OpenAI, which has no establishment in the EU but has nominated a representative in the European Economic Area (EEA), must communicate within 20 days the measures it has taken to implement the request from the Italian authorities. Otherwise, OpenAI faces a fine of up to 20 million euros or up to four percent of its worldwide annual turnover.
Source: Nachrichten
