Italy’s data protection authority, known as Garante, has declared that OpenAI’s ChatGPT violates data protection regulations.
This decision comes as a result of the continuing investigation initiated last year.
ChatGPT app icon on a smartphone screen. Image credit: Focal Foto via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0
Garante, an active enforcer of the EU’s data privacy regime, had previously banned ChatGPT over alleged EU privacy rule violations. Although the service was reinstated after OpenAI addressed concerns, Garante has now found elements suggesting potential privacy violations.
Microsoft-backed OpenAI has been given 30 days to present defense arguments.
The investigation will consider input from a European task force comprising national privacy watchdogs.
Italy was the first Western European country to restrict ChatGPT. Under the EU’s GDPR, violators face fines of up to 4% of their global turnover.
Written by Vytautas Valinskas