ChatGPT Racking Up Privacy Complaints in EU, Regulators Asked ...
ChatGPT, an AI language model developed by OpenAI, is facing an investigation by the French data privacy regulator CNIL following "several" privacy complaints. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) may also investigate the chatbot at Spain's request, as concerns grow over data transparency and the protection of minors. Italy has already banned ChatGPT temporarily over data handling concerns, including a lack of transparency on data collection and storage and the absence of safeguards for minors.
The GDPR and ePrivacy Directive, the EU's established data handling regulations, are proving problematic for large language models like ChatGPT. France's Digital Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has stated that there are no plans to ban ChatGPT, although he believes it is not currently compliant with GDPR. The decision to ban or not would ultimately be up to CNIL. However, Spain's data protection agency is keen to coordinate GDPR action while AI models are still in their infancy. It remains to be seen whether EDPB will investigate as it does not publicly comment on forthcoming meetings. There have been no privacy complaints about ChatGPT in Spain.
ChatGPT has raised numerous privacy concerns, including how it is being used by employees to lighten their workload, with potentially sensitive personal data being fed into the training model. The misconfiguration of the chatbot's cache system recently allowed users to view chat titles belonging to other users, highlighting the threat to privacy. Researchers have discovered that ChatGPT can reproduce protected intellectual property, creating potential legal issues beyond privacy complaints.
The adoption of AI regulation is being considered around the world. The US's NTIA is looking at trust and safety testing, regulatory approaches, the use of AI for disinformation, and the possibility of bias and discriminatory outcomes. OpenAI has promised improvements to its data transparency and user data viewing abilities after ChatGPT's ban in Italy. Other countries, including Germany, are reportedly considering their own bans. However, compliance with EU standards could enable ChatGPT to return to Italy soon.
