Italy Welcomes ChatGPT Back After Ban Over AI Privacy Concerns
After being banned due to privacy concerns, Italy has reversed its stance on OpenAI's chatbot, ChatGPT, less than a month later. OpenAI responded to privacy and security concerns about user data on the artificial intelligence platform. "ChatGPT is available again to our users in Italy," an OpenAI spokesperson said. "We are excited to welcome them back and we remain dedicated to protecting their privacy."
Italy had joined a handful of countries, including North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Syria, Russia, and China, in banning the use of ChatGPT within their borders. The privacy and security concerns, including collecting and storing users' data without their consent, prompted Canada, Germany, Sweden, and France to investigate the tool. However, earlier this month, Italian data protection watchdog agency Garante offered an olive branch to OpenAI that reopened the door for the chatbot's return.
The agency demanded that OpenAI impose age restrictions, clarify how data is processed, provide data management options, and allow users to opt-out of their data being used. OpenAI responded by rolling out a series of new features, including the ability for users to turn off their chat history and opt-out of allowing the company to use their data in its training models.
OpenAI also addressed its collection and use of training data and made its opt-out form and privacy policy more visible to users across the platform. Additionally, the company will continue to address privacy requests through email, introduce a new form for EU users to object to the use of their data in model training, and implement an age verification tool for users in Italy during signup.
The machine learning giant has also pledged to continue improving its security measures to protect user data and deal with AI "hallucinations." OpenAI said, "We appreciate the Garante for being collaborative and we look forward to ongoing constructive discussions." ChatGPT is available for Italian users once again.
