The Authority has opened an investigation for the collection considered “illegal” of users’ personal data. The site unreachable from our country
Stop a ChatGPTthe model of chatbot based on Artificial Intelligence, until it complies with privacy regulations. The Guarantor for the protection of personal data has ordered, with immediate effect, the temporary limitation of the processing of data of Italian users towards OpenAI, the US company that developed and operates the platform. The Authority also has opened an investigation. OpenAI has suspended access to ChatGPT in Italy.
Reasons for blocking ChatGPT In the provision, the Privacy Guarantor noted the lack of information addressed to users and all interested parties, whose data is collected by OpenAI, but above all the absence of a legal basis that justifies the mass collection and conservation of personal data, in order to “train” the algorithms underlying the functioning of the platform. As testified by the checks carried out, the information provided by ChatGPT does not always correspond to the real data, thus determining an inaccurate treatment of personal data.
The age problem Lastly, although the service is aimed at people over the age of 13, the Authority highlighted how the absence of any filter for verifying the age of users exposes minors to answers that are “absolutely unsuitable compared to their level of development and self-awareness”.
The decision of the company OpenAI has decided to suspend access to the ChatGPT service in Italy. On Twitter, CEO Sam Altman explained: “We naturally defer to the Italian government and stop operating in Italy (although we think we have complied with all privacy laws).” He then added: “Italy is one of my favorite countries and I can’t wait to visit it again.”
The website of the application is currently unreachable from our country. A notice on the chat.openai.com webpage states that “the site owner may have set restrictions that prevent users from logging in.” “We actively work to reduce personal data in the training of our AI systems like ChatGpt, because we want our AI to learn about the world, not individuals,” OpenAI explains in a statement. “We also believe that the regulation of AI is necessary. We therefore hope to be able to work closely with the Guarantor as soon as possible to explain how our systems are built and used”.