Italian privacy enforcers have opened an investigation into ChatGPT for violating EU and Italian privacy laws by collecting personal data of the citizens.
The artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT has been temporarily blocked by Italy’s watchdog for data protection, and an inquiry into possible violations of data privacy laws has been launched.
The American company OpenAI, which is the creator of ChatGPT, has been instructed by the data protection authority to immediately restrict data processing for Italian users.
The organization made a point of stating that this was in response to the most recent data breach that the AI platform experienced on March 20.
The Italian data watchdog added that consumers are not given enough information about the data that OpenAI collects. The agency also pointed out that there is no legal justification for the AI’s extensive acquisition and storage of personal data while it developed its algorithms.
The agency found that there may be inaccuracies in the processing of personal data after noting that the information provided by the AI chatbot doesn’t always correspond to actual data.
In addition to this, the Italian data watchdog called attention to a possible violation of ChatGPT’s own data protection policies. Although though ChatGPT restricts users to those over the age of 13, the government claims there is no filter within the program that confirms a user’s age.
This implies that minors might be exposed to information that is inappropriate for their developing brains. Several countries around the world are also criticizing AI chatbots, in addition to Italy.
In an effort to prevent the widespread distribution of potent AI systems, the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Policy (CAIDP) filed a complaint against ChatGPT on March 31. The chatbot was labeled by the CAIDP as a “biased” and “deceptive” platform that poses a threat to privacy and public safety.
