ChatGPT: Italy Accuses OpenAI’s Chatbot of Violating Data Protection Regulations

An Italian watchdog has accused the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, ChatGPT, of violating data protection rules. Italy’s Data Protection Authority (DPA) conducted an inquiry and found that the chatbot had breached data privacy regulations, specifically related to the collection of personal data and age protections. ChatGPT relies on gathering large amounts of data from the internet. OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has been given 30 days to respond to the allegations. Italy has been strict on data protection and was the first Western country to block ChatGPT in March 2023 due to privacy concerns. The product was reinstated after OpenAI claimed to have addressed the issues raised by the DPA. However, the DPA has now concluded that there are still data privacy violations. The regulator is concerned about the mass collection of user data and the potential exposure of younger users to inappropriate content generated by the chatbot. Companies that violate GDPR regulations can face fines of up to 4% of their global turnover. Italy’s DPA works with the European Union’s European Data Protection Board, which established a task force to monitor ChatGPT. The DPA had previously called for more compliance from OpenAI, including implementing an age verification system and conducting an information campaign for Italian users. OpenAI, which has strong ties to Microsoft, has stated that it will continue discussions with the regulator.