OpenAI has announced that its chatbot, ChatGPT, is once again available to users in Italy following the resolution of several conditions set out by regulators. The Garante data protection authority had ordered the temporary ban on ChatGPT in March over concerns about the chatbot’s training methods and potential violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union. OpenAI was directed to address the privacy concerns and ensure that the personal information of users in Italy was not being processed while the issue was being investigated.
OpenAI responded to the conditions by adding privacy controls to ChatGPT, including the ability for users to switch off their chat histories. This measure stops OpenAI from using the data for training purposes. Additionally, the chatbot now displays a pop-up asking users to confirm their age and obtain parental consent if the user is between 13 and 17 years old.
OpenAI has also added a privacy disclosure on the website to explain how data is collected and used to train ChatGPT’s algorithms. The company has also provided a form for EU users to object to having their data used for training purposes. In a statement to the Associated Press, OpenAI expressed its excitement to welcome back users in Italy and emphasized its commitment to protecting their privacy.
The Italian data protection authority welcomed the measures taken by OpenAI to address their concerns. However, they urged the company to comply with additional demands, including the implementation of an age verification system, conducting an information campaign to inform Italians about the incident, and providing users the right to opt-out from the processing of their personal data for training algorithms. The regulator emphasized that they will continue their fact-finding activities regarding OpenAI under the umbrella of the ad-hoc task force set up by the European Data Protection Board.
