UK Watchdog Warns Against Rushing Gen AI Apps to Market Due to Privacy Risks

UK’s data protection watchdog, Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), has warned generative AI developers about the risks associated with privacy before introducing their products to the market. ICO’s exec director of regulatory risk, Stephen Almond, has cautioned against businesses rushing to adopt powerful AI technology without proper due diligence on privacy and data protection risks. ICO will be checking whether businesses have adequately tackled privacy risks and taking action where risk of harm to people through poor use of their data arises. The watchdog has also emphasized that developers must not be blind to the privacy risks and that they should spend time at the outset to understand how AI is using personal information, mitigate any risks that they become aware of, and then roll out their AI approach with confidence that it won’t upset customers or regulators. ICO expects businesses to act on their recommendations and warns that any businesses that ignore their guidance and seek to rush apps to market will be generating more regulatory risk for themselves, including the potential for substantial fines.