This same Friday, Italy has ordered the blocking with immediate effect of Openai’s artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT, accusing it of not respecting the country’s data protection law, Italy’s GPDP (Guarantor for Personal Data Protection). ChatGPT is accused of the alleged illegal collection of personal data and has therefore opened an investigation.
The country’s national authority accuses the company of lacking a legal basis to justify the current “massive collection and storage of personal data to train ChatGPT algorithms.” In this way, the access and use of this technology is limited in Italy while an investigation is opened towards the company that created the platform. This block is temporary although it will not be removed until OpenAI complies with the European General Data Protection Regulation.
In a statement published this Friday, the Italian data protection agency claims to have detected “the lack of information for users and all interested parties whose data is collected by OpenAI, but above all the absence of a legal basis that justifies the collection and the massive storage of personal data, with the purpose of training the algorithms that underlie the operation of the platform,” the statement details.
They point out that the checks carried out and the information provided by ChatGPT does not always correspond to the real data, thus determining an inaccurate treatment of the personal data of the users who use the service. In addition, they also highlight that, although according to the terms published by OpenAI, the service is aimed at people over 13 years of age, there is a complete absence of any filter to verify the age of the users. Thus exposing minors to absolutely inadequate responses compared to their degree of development and self-awareness.
The statement also states that ChatGPT suffered a data loss on March 20 (data leak) related to user conversations and information corresponding to the payment of payment service subscribers.
Specifically, the agency considers this service infringes articles 5, 6, 8, 13 and 25 of the Regulation. Thus ordering the blocking of the same and adding that in case of non-compliance with the measure provided by the guarantor, the relevant criminal and administrative sanctions will be applied. Specifically, the agency speaks of a penalty of 20 million euros or up to 4% of the company’s annual global turnover.
Any member country can take the measures it deems appropriate to protect its citizens, including the preventive blocking of the OpenAI application, an American company that does not have a legal presence in Europe. For now, the blockade has only been activated in Italy and not in the rest of the member countries, unless their corresponding entities follow in the footsteps of the Mediterranean country. Similarly, Italy also obliges the company to communicate within a maximum period of 20 days what initiatives it has taken to meet the conditions indicated by the agency before starting the sanctions process.
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