Italian data watchdog sets to-do list for Open AI to lift ban on ChatGPT

(Image: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg)

The Italian Data Protection Authority has put out a public statement with a list of steps that OpenAI would need to comply with if ChatGPT wants to be unbanned in the country.

OpenAI has until April 30 to comply with the requirements. The AI chatbot was taken down in Italy after concerns over its data collection policies and user privacy.

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The authority says that OpenAI will have, “to draft and make available, on its website, an information notice describing the arrangements and logic of the data processing required for the operation of ChatGPT,” and this list will have to easily accessible and placed, “in such a way as to be read before signing up to the service.”

Users in Italy will have to be presented with the notice before registration and they will need to declare that they are over 18 years old. Registered users will have to be shown the notice when they reactive their accounts and will require to pass an age gate.

The Italian authority has ordered OpenAI to, “remove all references to contractual performance and to rely - in line with the accountability principle - on either consent or legitimate interest as the applicable legal basis.”

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OpenAI will need to make tools available that will enable users (both registered and otherwise) to rectify personal data if it was generated incorrectly by the service. They can also request the data be removed. The company will need to present users with a tool that lets them opt out of personal data processing for AI algorithms.

Finally, OpenAI will need to promote these changes through radio, television, newspapers and the internet to make people aware of their data collection rights.