Italy’s Guarantor for the Protection of Personal Data (GPDP) has banned the use of the artificial intelligence chatbot prototype ChatGPT, developed by US-based OpenAI, claiming that the tool has collected personal data illegally and without systems to verify the age of users. The agency notes that the company has lacked transparency and that there is no legal basis to justify the massive collection and storage of data for the purpose of training the platform’s algorithms.
The GPDP has ordered OpenAI to temporarily limit the processing of Italian user data with immediate effect, opened an investigation, and advised users to stop using the chatbot until privacy regulations are respected. In addition, the company has 20 days to communicate the measures it will take to remedy these problems, or else it could face a fine of up to $21.7 million, or 4% of its annual global turnover.
The agency also noted that OpenAI’s chatbot suffered a data leak of conversations generated with users and information related to charging subscribers of the paid service on March 20. In addition, the service has no filters to verify the age of users, exposing minors to responses inappropriate to their level of development and self-awareness.
In conclusion, Italy has banned the use of ChatGPT for illegal data collection and a lack of age verification systems and has ordered OpenAI to take measures to ensure compliance with privacy regulations.