After complying with the transparency demands of Italy’s data protection agency, Garante, OpenAI’s widely-used interactive AI chatbot, ChatGPT, has been unbanned in Italy. The watchdog initially banned the chatbot on March 31, suspecting it of violating the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). On April 29, the ban was lifted after 29 days since ChatGPT complied with the legal requirements.
we’re excited chatgpt is available in 🇮🇹 again!
— Sam Altman (@sama) April 28, 2023
ChatGPT complied with the regulator’s demands. It revealed its data processing practices and implemented age-gating measures. The watchdog banned ChatGPT due to a data breach on March 20. It showed the need for better data protection.
We took ChatGPT offline Monday to fix a bug in an open source library that allowed some users to see titles from other users’ chat history. Our investigation has also found that 1.2% of ChatGPT Plus users might have had personal data revealed to another user. 1/2
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) March 24, 2023
ChatGPT’s willingness to comply is a positive move
Users globally have widely welcomed ChatGPT’s swift compliance with the local authorities’ demands. Observers view ChatGPT’s willingness to comply as an overall positive move that ensures its status as a trustworthy and reliable AI chatbot.
The European Union legislators are currently working on a new bill to monitor AI developments. The bill aims to classify AI tools based on their perceived risk levels, ranging from minimal to unacceptable. Authorities will subject high-risk tools to stricter transparency requirements instead of banning them entirely.
If signed into law, ChatGPT and Midjourney will be subject to disclosure of the use of copyrighted materials in AI training. The legislation will aim to ensure that AI tools comply with ethical and legal standards, ensuring data privacy and transparency.
