The Italian GPDP (Guarantor for the Protection of Personal Data) has prohibited the use of ChatGPT with immediate effect. The Italian regulator has ordered this Friday the blocking of this OpenAI tool, for alleged illegal collection of personal data.
The national authority ensures that the company lacks a legal basis that justifies “the massive collection and storage of personal data to train the ChatGPT algorithms.
ChatGPT, banned in Italy. Thus, the processing of Italian user data towards OpenAI in the country is limited, at the same time an investigation is opened towards the company behind the service. The order is temporary, although it will not be removed until ChatGPT complies with the European General Data Protection Regulation.
OpenAI violations, according to Italy. In the official statement, the Italian guarantor claims to have detected that “no information is provided to users, nor to interested parties whose data has been collected by OpenAI, LLC and processed through the ChatGPT service.” He also alludes to “the absence of an adequate legal basis in relation to the collection of personal data and its processing for the purpose of training the algorithms underlying the operation of ChatGPT”.
They provide, in the same way, that the service does not have any system to verify the age of the users, despite being reserved for subjects who have reached at least 13 years of age, according to the terms of use published by OpenAI.
An ongoing investigation. Thus, they consider that ChatGPT infringes articles 5, 6, 8, 13 and 25 of the Regulation. This limitation on the service, with immediate effect from the new provision, is subject to the result of the investigation. In the event of non-compliance with the measure ordered by the guarantor, the agency points out that the relevant criminal and administrative sanctions will be applied.
They oblige, in the same way, to present the recipient of the treatment (OpenAI) to communicate within a maximum period of 20 days what initiatives have been taken “in order to apply what is prescribed” and provide “considers useful to justify the infractions mentioned above” . The lack of response from OpenAI, according to the EU regulation, will also be punished with an administrative sanction.
The door opens in other countries. Italy has been the first to take the step against OpenAI for violating the GDPR. However, executing the order based on non-compliance with European regulations, other countries (such as Spain) could follow the same steps.
Bad week for GPT. “Immediately stop training,” asked both Musk and more tech personalities this week. Doubts about the legislative framework, the lack of protocols that guarantee its operation and the absence of regulation regarding the tool pushed major figures in the sector to request the suspension for at least six months of systems superior to GPT-4.
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