‘ChatGPT may resume service in Italy if it meets regulator’s demands’

‘ChatGPT may resume service in Italy if it meets regulator’s demands’

The list of demands comes after OpenAI held talks with the Italian privacy watchdog.

OpenAI may resume offering its ChatGPT to the Italian public if it meets a list of requirements set by Italy’s data protection watchdog, Reuters reports.

Italy’s agency set out a list of demands on Wednesday which it said OpenAI must meet by April 30. If successful, the report suggests the chatbot can return to the Italian market.

The San Francisco based OpenAI was forced to take ChatGPT offline in Italy on March 31 when the Italian regulator, known as the Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali (“Garante“), issued a temporary ban on the chatbot, claiming that it violated the EU’s General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR).

On April 6, OpenAI’s founder and CEO, Sam Altman, was present by videoconference for a meeting in Rome with the Garante. Following the meeting, the company issued a statement. In it, they reiterate “that it is convinced that it respects the rules on the protection of personal data”. OpenAI also “confirmed its willingness to collaborate with the Italian Authority with the aim of reaching a positive solution to the critical issues identified by the Guarante regarding ChatGPT.”

The Garante issues its demands

In a follow-on statement on Wednesday Garante laid out a set of “concrete” demands that the US tech company must meet by the end of April.

Firstly, the authority demands that OpenAI “prepare and make available on its website a transparent information, in which the methods and logic underlying the processing of the data necessary for the functioning of ChatGpt are explained”.

In addition, users from Italy “must be asked to declare that they are of age” before they can complete the registration.

The Garante is also requiring OpenAI to provide tools to request corrections to their data. If the service cannot correct it, OpenAI must delete the data.

The Italian regulator’s aggressive action on ChatGPT has “piqued the interest” of other privacy watchdogs in Europe, Reuters notes. Various privacy authorities in the EU are now studying whether harsher measures are needed for chatbots and whether to coordinate their regulatory efforts.