ChatGPT has no doubt been the talk of the tech world for its amazing advancements, but while many are impressed, the Italian data protection agency believes it may pose privacy threats resulting in a ban. After a few tweaks, it appears that ChatGPT is available in Italy once again.
ChatGPT is Back in Italy
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was happy to announce that ChatGPT's ban in Italy has been lifted. This was after the conditions provided by regulators have been addressed, which were concerns about the AI's learning methods.
The company behind the chatbot expressed that they were excited to welcome Italian users back and that they remain dedicated to protecting their privacy, as mentioned in Engadget. Of course, this wouldn't be possible if OpenAI hadn't made some changes.
ChatGPT now has privacy controls, which had been added this week. Users are now able to turn off chat histories so the chatbot cannot use the data for training itself. Italian users are asked whether they are 18 years of age in order to use the AI chatbot.
Should a user be between the ages 13 and 17, they will need a parent's or guardian's permission to use ChatGPT. The new measures were to assuage the concerns of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Users will be greeted with an information notice stating that it will be processing data for the service to be able to perform on a contractual basis. The welcome page will also contain links so users may read its new privacy policy.
The new policies were enough to get back to the regulators' good side, wherein they stated that they "welcome the measures OpenAI implemented." Although Garante data protection authority says that still expects OpenAI to follow through with the unmet demands.
OpenAI is urged to implement an age verification system and provide an option for its users to opt out of having their personal data used for training the chatbot's algorithm. Garante also said that it will be watching ChatGPT.
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Events Behind the Ban
Italy has officially become the first country to ban ChatGPT. The ban was temporary and ChatGPT was given 20 days to provide solutions to answer the agency's concerns, with regulators pointing out a recent data breach that exposed user conversations and payment details.
Italy's data protection agency mentioned that OpenAI could be fined 20 million euros if such an incident would happen. That amounts to $22 million, which is equivalent to 4% of OpenAI's global annual revenue, according to The New York Times.
The ban serves as a reminder to AI tech developers that policies must be created to protect users from being exposed to particular content, and most importantly protect their personal information while using the technology.
In fact, over a thousand leaders and researchers in the tech industry have called for a moratorium on the development of advanced AI, so that policies may be created and implemented by AI developers and companies.
