Italian Regulators Accuse OpenAI’s ChatGPT of Privacy Violations

Italian data protection regulators accuse OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot of allegedly violating local privacy laws.

The Italian DPA (Garante per la protezione dei dati personali) said it has evidence the accused breached EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provisions.

ChatGPT Under Italian Scrutiny Once More

“Following the temporary ban on processing imposed on OpenAI by the Garante on 30 March of last year, and based on the outcome of its fact-finding activity, the Italian DPA concluded that the available evidence pointed to the existence of breaches of the provisions contained in the EU GDPR,” reads the DPA’s announcement.

On March 30, the data protection watchdog temporarily banned ChatGPT in the country on grounds that the company might not follow regulations in processing user data. The DPA started investigating whether the company and its popular AI-assisted chatbot lawfully processed user data.

The temporary ban came shortly after OpenAI announced a series of privacy controls, including disabling chat history, an age verification system, and an online form for European users to opt out of having personal data processed by the service.

Italian DPA Finds New Evidence of Privacy Violations

Access to the tool was momentarily restored ahead of the April 30 deadline that the data protection regulators imposed.

However, synchronously with the temporary ban, the DPA launched a multi-month investigation that led to new, undisclosed findings. Following the investigation, OpenAI faces new accusations of privacy violations and non-compliance with GDPR provisions; the company must respond to the allegations within 30 days.

“The Italian Garante will take account of the work in progress within the ad-hoc task force set up by the European Data Protection Framework (EDPB) in its final determination on the case,” reads the DPA’s statement.

The Danger of Exposing Your Personal Data

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