OpenAI Implements More Data Privacy Controls for ChatGPT
OpenAI has recently added more data privacy guardrails for ChatGPT. The company stated that if users disable chat history, the system retains new conversations for 30 days. These conversations are only reviewed "when needed" to monitor for abuse before being permanently deleted. The new controls can be found in ChatGPT's settings and can be changed at any time. OpenAI hopes that this will provide an easier way for users to manage their data than the existing opt-out process.
Data Privacy Concerns for CIOs
Data privacy is one of the top concerns for CIOs when it comes to employees using publicly available large language models, which use data put into the system to inform future responses. Recent incidents of data privacy leaks and an open-source library bug found in ChatGPT have illustrated this fear. For example, Samsung Electronics' employees in the company’s semiconductor business unit reportedly put sensitive corporate data into ChatGPT, leading the company to limit upload capacity per prompt.
The Challenge for OpenAI
As businesses craft policies for employee use of generative AI, the challenge for OpenAI is in balancing what data they need to make models better and what users are comfortable sharing. This is especially important as the company seeks to reach enterprise customers. Following the open-source library bug, the Italian Supervisory Authority imposed a temporary limitation prohibiting OpenAI from processing Italian users’ data after suspecting the company was breaching the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. In response, Italy’s data protection watchdog published a list of demands for OpenAI. If met, this would result in Italy lifting the ban. One of the requests asked OpenAI to add easily accessible tools to allow users and non-users to obtain their personal data and give users the right to refuse access to their personal data for training the model.
It is important for companies to prioritize data privacy and implement necessary controls as the use of AI continues to become more common.
