ChatGPT has been accused of violating Europe’s data privacy law, and the issue reportedly relates to its failure to police content for young users.
Italy’s Data Protection Authority, known as the Garante, said it notified OpenAI about “breaches of data protection.”
They didn’t elaborate on the nature of the breaches, or potential actions it could take.
It was reported Italian regulators are “concerned that younger users may be exposed to inappropriate content generated by the chatbot.”
OpenAI requires users to be at least 13 years old, and those under 18 must have parent or legal guardian’s permission.
Garante is said to be focused on the company’s collection of user data to help train the chatbot.
“The Italian DPA concluded that the available evidence pointed to the existence of breaches of the provisions contained in the EU GDPR.”
This announcement is the latest escalation made by Italian officials, who have stood against OpenAI since it launched.
Italy temporarily banned ChatGPT last year, the first in Europe, and reinstated it after the company responded to privacy concerns.
Under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, companies who violate laws can be fined up to 4% of their global revenue.
It remains unclear if OpenAI will be facing another ban in connection with this action.
In a statement, OpenAI pushed back the assertions of the agency.
“We believe our practices align with GDPR and other privacy laws, and we take additional steps to protect people’s data and privacy.”
The company added it would “actively work to reduce personal data in training our systems like ChatGPT, which also rejects requests for private or sensitive information about people” and said it plans to “continue to work constructively with the Garante.”
This crackdown is another hurdle for the Microsoft backed company, which has also faced legal and regulatory scrutiny in the US.
US and European watchdogs have revealed they are examining the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI over potential competition concerns.
The New York Times has also slapped OpenAI with a federal copyright infringement lawsuit, after they allegedly used its articles to train the model without proper permission.
