Italy’s privacy regulator Friday ordered a ban on ChatGPT for alleged privacy violations.
The National Data Protection Authority said it would immediately block and investigate OpenAI, a US company that develops popular artificial intelligence tools, from processing data of Italian users. The order is temporary until the company respects the EU’s groundbreaking privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
There are growing calls on both sides of the Atlantic to pause the release of the new ChatGPT and investigate its creator, OpenAI, for a range of privacy, cybersecurity and disinformation risks. Elon Musk and dozens of AI experts called for a pause on ChatGPT updates this week. Consumer advocacy group BEUC also called on national authorities, including the EU and data protection regulators, to investigate his ChatGPT on March 30.
Officials said the company had no legal basis to justify ChatGPT’s “mass collection and storage of personal data to ‘train’ its algorithms.” The company also added that it was processing data incorrectly.
ChatGPT also suffered a data breach last week, exposing user conversations and user payment information, Italian authorities said. He added that OpenAI does not check the user’s age and “gives minors absolutely inappropriate answers compared to their level of development and self-awareness.”
OpenAI does not have an office in the EU, but representatives from the European Economic Area have been given 20 days to communicate their plans to bring ChatGPT into compliance with EU privacy regulations.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
