Monday, April 29, 2024

Vogon Today

Selected News from the Galaxy

StartMag

ChatGpt, which other countries will follow the Italian privacy guarantor?

1 year ago babelfish

ChatGpt, which other countries will follow the Italian privacy guarantor?

The whole world is talking about the Italian Privacy Guarantor who blocked OpenAI's ChatGPT. But also how the authorities of other European and non-European countries could follow the example of the Italian authority. Facts and comments

ChatGPT of OpenAI is not only under the magnifying glass of the Italian Privacy Guarantor. Regulators around the world are carefully studying the matter and it seems that many will follow the decision of our country.

WHAT HAS (OPENAI FOR) ITALY DECIDED

In reality, as Valerio De Stefano, professor of Artificial Intelligence & Labor Regulation explained , "the Guarantor has not blocked ChatGPT at all, nor has it ever decided that artificial intelligence or LLM systems such as ChatGPT should be blocked in Italy".

On the other hand, the Authority notified ChatGPT that it had not prepared a privacy policy; not having clarified in what capacity it processes the personal data of the users it processes; and finally, not having provided mechanisms to prevent children under 13 from accessing the service.

All constraints, recalls De Stefano, which arise from compliance with the general regulation on data protection (GDPR) of the European Union.

The Guarantor gave OpenAI 20 days to respond, which however decided to suspend the service in Italy. OpenAI, not the Guarantor.

COUNTRIES WHERE CHATGPT IS NOT ACCESSIBLE

Currently OpenAI has decided not to make ChatGPT accessible in China, North Korea, Russia and Iran.

WHAT THE UNITED STATES DOES

Italy, despite ending up at the center of the debate, is however not the only one to pose the problem of regulating artificial intelligence.

In the United States, for example, the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP), a group that advocates for the ethical use of technology, has asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block the release of new commercial versions of ChatGPT. The president of the CAIDP, Marc Rotenberg, is among the signatories of the well-known letter asking for a break of at least six months from all the activities of the most powerful AI laboratories of GPT-4.

The group accuses OpenAI of violating a portion of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair and deceptive business practices, and the agency's guidelines for artificial intelligence products. For the CAIDP, the latest version of the chatbot (GPT-4) is "biased, deceptive and a risk to privacy and public safety".

The appeal also invites OpenAI to provide an independent evaluation of GPT products before their future release.

CANADA

In Canada, too, trouble ahead for OpenAI. The office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has in fact announced that it has launched an investigation into the company.

"Artificial intelligence technology and its effects on privacy are a priority for my office," said Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne. “We have to keep pace with rapidly evolving technological advances, and this is one of my main areas of focus as Commissioner.”

The investigation, the Authority said, was launched in response to a complaint alleging the collection, use and disclosure of personal information without consent. The office reports that "since this is an ongoing investigation, no further details are available at the moment".

WHAT ABOUT EUROPE?

Returning to the Old Continent, according to Vincenzo Zeno-Zencovich , professor of comparative law at the Roma Tre University and expert in European private law, media and new technologies, it is "rather predictable" that other EU countries will follow in the footsteps of the Italian Guarantor, considering that the European Data Protection Board “will inevitably take into consideration and refine, modify, adjust or extend the Italian decision”.

Notably, Reuters says privacy regulators in France and Ireland have contacted counterparts in Italy "to find out more about the basis for the ban". “We are following up the matter with the Italian regulatory authority – said a spokesman for the Irish commissioner for data protection -. We will coordinate with all EU data protection authorities in relation to this issue."

Germany, on the other hand, according to the statements of the German data protection commissioner to the Handelsblatt newspaper, could act as the Italian Guarantor "for data security problems".

The news agency also learned that the Spanish regulator said it had not received any complaints about the OpenAI chatbot, but did not rule out an investigation in the future.

And Sweden, for its part, dissociates itself and makes it known "that it has no plans to ban ChatGPT and that it is not in contact with the Italian supervisory authority".

WHAT STATE OF PLAY WITH THE EU AI LAW

To regulate artificial intelligence, the European Commission is working on the first law in the world on the subject, the AI ​​Act. However, in addition to the differences between the 27, it will still take years before it is approved and implemented.

For this reason, the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) has expressed concern and following the decision of the Italian Guarantorhas asked all authorities to investigate the main AI chatbots. “Consumers are not ready for this technology. They don't realize how manipulative and deceptive it can be,” explained Ursula Pachl, deputy director of BEUC.

OPENAI'S ANSWER TO ITALY

In a statement reported by The New York Times , OpenAI said it is working to reduce personal data in its AI systems like ChatGPT "because we want our AI to learn about the world, not individuals." The firm also said that AI regulation "is necessary."

“We look forward to working closely with [the Italian Authority] and educating them on how our systems are built and used,” concluded OpenAI, which is planning a videoconference meeting with the Guarantor just tonight .

The managing director of OpenAI, Sam Altman, was also enthusiastic and available, who declared on Twitter that OpenAI deferred to the "Italian government" on the issue.

“Italy is one of my favorite countries and I can't wait to visit it again soon,” he added.

Meanwhile, the response from Mira Murati, top manager of OpenAI, also arrived from San Francisco who said in an interview with Repubblica : "The Guarantor has blocked us but the Italians want artificial intelligence".

“It was a surprise, they hadn't contacted us before,” said the 34-year-old engineer. "We respect the European rules on personal data, but we are open to dialogue with the Guarantor and we hope to restore the service soon".

Murati assured that their services are “GDPR compliant” and that they are “working to reduce personal data in ChatGPT training”. “We are also compliant with regard to transparency – he added –: we let users know how the data is processed and we provide the privacy policy”.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/chatgpt-quali-altri-paesi-seguiranno-il-garante-della-privacy-italiano/ on Wed, 05 Apr 2023 11:00:08 +0000.