OpenAI’s popular artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, has now resumed services in Italy after complying with the demands and guidelines set by Garante, Italy’s data protection agency. The company has clarified and addressed the issues raised by the agency concerning data privacy and personal data storage. In a statement, an OpenAI spokesperson mentioned that they are delighted to welcome back their Italian users while staying committed to safeguarding their personal information. Garante approved the relaunch of ChatGPT services in Italy once the agency's demands were met.
Garante had initially accused OpenAI of not providing legal justification for the massive collection and storage of personal information to train their chatbot. The agency also criticized OpenAI for failing to verify the age of the users accessing ChatGPT’s services, who are supposed to be 13 years or above. To comply with regulations, OpenAI will now provide tools to verify users' ages during the sign-up process in Italy and offer more visibility of its privacy policy and user content opt-out form. The company will also provide a new form for the European Union users to exercise their right to object to the use of their personal data to train the chatbot.
Italy took action against ChatGPT last month, making it the first Western country to take such action against the AI chatbot. The agency recognised the steps taken by OpenAI to ensure compliance with European data protection regulations and expressed hope for their continued progress.
