ChatGPT is available again in Italy after meeting GDPR requirements
ChatGPT is back in business in Italy after it was banned by the country's data privacy authority for possible violations of the European Union's (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The reinstatement was announced on Friday by Italy's Guarantor for the Protection of Personal Data after Microsoft-backed OpenAI made necessary changes to comply with GDPR regulations. The data privacy agency had ordered OpenAI to stop processing ChatGPT data in Italy in March. However, OpenAI has now been conditionally approved to offer ChatGPT in Italy, but would have to make further changes safeguarding the rights of individuals and adhering to all data privacy rules.
The Changes made by OpenAI.
The changes made by OpenAI to meet the GDPR requirements include a stronger age-confirmation mechanism, an information campaign about the rights of Italians to opt out of the processing of their personal data for the purpose of training AI algorithms, and the elimination of a bug in an open-source library that allowed some ChatGPT users to see titles from another active user’s chat history. The data privacy authority had noted that "information made available by ChatGPT does not always match factual circumstances, so that inaccurate personal data are processed."
Expectations
The changes made by OpenAI have been accepted by Italy's Guarantor for the Protection of Personal Data, but it expects OpenAI to apply more changes specified by the agency, and adhere to all the EU data privacy regulations strictly. The GDPR requirements are being implemented as governments around the world consider regulations on AI. European countries have been the first to take concrete steps to regulate AI. Members of the European Parliament agreed on compromise amendments to the AI Act proposed by the European Commission last week. The act focuses on classifying AI systems into risk-based categories with high-risk systems being banned from being used for certain purposes like government social-scoring systems and real-time biometric identification systems in public spaces.
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) plans to launch a dedicated task force to investigate ChatGPT after a number of European privacy watchdogs including Italy raised concerns about whether the technology complies with GDPR regulations.
