Italy-based ChatGPT users must be delighted as the AI chatbot resumed its services yesterday. At the beginning of April, ChatGPT maker, Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O) OpenAI took it offline in Italy after the government's Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (GPDP; Data Protection Authority) issued an immediate temporary ban on suspected breach of privacy rules.
According to the Garante, ChatGPT didn't have have a disclosure notice to users about data collected by OpenAI. Furthermore, the platform did not have a legal basis that justified the extensive collection and processing of personal data required to train the algorithms it uses.
Besides, according to the Garante, the lack of an age verification mechanism exposed children to receiving responses inappropriate to their age and awareness, even though the service is allegedly addressed to users aged above 13 according to OpenAI's terms of service (and even though the service doesn't allow the use of foul language). The Italian data protection authority asked OpenAI to rectify these issues by April 30 to lift the ban on the AI software.
OpenAI was able to restore the service after addressing and clarifying the concerns raised by the Garante and fulfilling conditions, implementing changes that satisfied the GPDP.
Italy-based users accessing the chatbot are now welcomed by a message reserved for Italian registered users, announcing the return of the service in the country. The message also includes a button that allows the user to confirm they are aged above 18 prior to gaining access to the service, or else that they are aged above 13 and have obtained consent from their parents or guardians for that purpose.
Yesterday the GPDP also listed in a press release published on its website all the improvements made by OpenAI. Apart from the welcome screen and the tool to verify users' ages upon signup in Italy (there is a block on registration for users under 13 years old), amendments include drafting and publishing on its website a notice to users and non-users in Europe and the rest of the world, to explain which personal data and how they are processed for the training of algorithms, and to remind everyone of their right to object to such processing (the system will continue to process certain personal data to ensure the correct functioning of the service on the basis of the contract, and will process the users’ personal data for the purpose of algorithm training unless they exercise their right to object, on the basis of legitimate interest).
The notice on data processing reserved for service users has also been expanded and it is now accessible from the sign-up page prior to registration with the service.
The new revisions also grant all people living in Europe, non-users included, the right to object to their personal data being processed for algorithm training through a dedicated online form easily accessible; besides, the amendments provide the possibility for interested parties to have incorrect information deleted as it is technically impossible, as of now, to rectify inaccuracies; OpenAI also recently implemented a form that allows all European users to exercise their right to object to the processing of their personal data and thus exclude conversations and related history from the training of their algorithms.
The Italian Garante appreciated OpenAI's actions and recognized the progress made by the AI research laboratory in balancing technological progress with individual rights. The Garante expressed hope that OpenAI will continue to make efforts to adhere to European data protection laws.
Yet it is likely that OpenAI may face more obstacles in the coming months. Several regulatory bodies in countries including France, Spain, and Canada are scrutinizing AI systems such as OpenAI and have either launched or are considering investigations into the company's operations. These investigations are centered around issues like the collection of training data for its language model and the type of information provided to users. Additionally, European lawmakers are in the process of developing the AI Act, which may impose new obligations on companies like OpenAI and require them to make additional information disclosures (even though at the moment the law mainly focuses on applications and systems that create an unacceptable risk, such as government-run social scoring of the type used in China, and second, high-risk applications, such as a CV-scanning tool that ranks job applicants; applications not explicitly banned or listed as high-risk are largely left unregulated). Furthermore, the head of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, issued a warning this week stating that the U.S. government will not hesitate to take action against harmful business practices involving AI.
Anyway, for the time being, Italy-based ChatGPT fans, researchers generating coding with it or creative minds torturing the system to produce hilarious crochet and knitwear patterns can now go back to converse with their favourite chatbot (legally, without the use of a VPN…).
Yet you feel that those who may benefit the most from the chatbot may be Italian politicians who may need some ideas and suggestions for their speeches. Yesterday Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met British PM Rishi Sunak in London. After the meeting, during an interview with an Italian journalist, hallucinating like a malfunctioning AI, Meloni claimed Italian economy is doing very well, measures taken by her government are effective and there is a resurgence of optimism, adding "you can't always play the Tafazzi even when things are going well, because you don't help".
While she gave the statement to an Italian journalist - after all, nobody outside Italy would know that Tafazzi was a comic self-harming character beating himself on the genitals who was popular in the '90s - it is surprising for a Prime Minister to make such a trivial reference. It's almost certain that ChatGPT would have been less superficial and wouldn't have hallucinated as much as Meloni when it came to the state of Italian economy, currently facing significant challenges in various sectors, mainly for lack of investments in infrastructure, education, and innovation.
So, as Italy-based users welcome back ChatGPT, those Italians who feel ashamed of their country's cultural state might contemplate volunteering for a pioneering mission to Mars. There may not be any ChatGPT there, but there wouldn't be any shallow premier either.
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