The European Data Protection Board (EDPB), an independent body created to ensure that Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GPDR) is applied consistently throughout the European Union (EU), has announced the launch of a new task force that will monitor the potential privacy violations of ChatGPT, a chatbot developed by OpenAI. This move by the EDPD indicates that the EU is seriously looking into the chatbot and its potential impact on consumer privacy rights.
The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) also made an announcement along with the EDPB, indicating on Thursday that they have initiated an investigation into OpenAI over possible privacy violations by ChatGPT. This comes after Italy made the decision to be the first country to temporarily ban the chatbot.
The EDPB intends on collaborating and exchanging information between data protection authorities on any possible future enforcement actions. This news was announced in a two-sentence press release.
The Spanish data protection agency has expressed their support for the development of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, so long as it is compatible with rights and freedoms of the public. This response comes after OpenAI faced scrutiny from the Italian Data Protection Authority with temporary limitations on the processing of Italian user’s data on the chatbot, and with measures put into place that allow people to object and correct any potential incorrect information regarding them.
OpenAI have responded positively to the Italian Garante’s decision and have expressed the desire to work with them to make the chatbot accessible to their users in Italy once again.
OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory whose products have made major strides in improving natural language understanding, a key component of creating a practical AI that can comprehend human speech. Founded in 2016, the company is based in San Francisco and is backed by major investors such as Microsoft co-founder Peter Thiel and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. The current CEO, Sam Altman, is an AI tech enthusiast and computer scientist who actively promotes positive changes for the machine learning industry.
