"Collection of Personal Information Without User Consent"
US and Germany Likely to Consider Regulatory Measures
Following Italy, Canada has also raised suspicions of unauthorized personal data collection by ChatGPT, announcing the launch of a fact-finding investigation against the developer OpenAI, intensifying the international controversy. As regulatory movements are expected to arise mainly in the United States and European Union (EU) countries, attention is focused on how this will affect the ChatGPT craze.
According to AFP on the 4th (local time), Canada's privacy authority the Privacy Commissioner stated in a press release, "A complaint alleging that ChatGPT collected, used, and disclosed personal information without user consent has been received, and an investigation into OpenAI has begun."
Philip Dufresne, Privacy Commissioner, said, "We are prioritizing the impact of AI on privacy and the commission must lead in rapidly evolving technological developments," adding, "However, detailed information will not be disclosed." The Privacy Commissioner is required to publicly report the results after the investigation, so it is expected that the investigation details will be revealed in the future.
Following Italy, privacy issues surrounding ChatGPT have again come under scrutiny, and international controversy is expected to continue. Previously, a personal data leak incident occurred at OpenAI when a sign-up confirmation email was mistakenly sent, exposing individual users' names, email addresses, billing addresses, and credit card information for more than nine hours, increasing calls for an investigation into OpenAI.
Earlier, on the 30th of last month, the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP) in the United States requested the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to halt the new release of ChatGPT-4, citing reasons such as "bias, deception, and threats to public safety." Another nonprofit organization, the Future of Life Institute (FLI), issued an open letter titled "Pause Giant AI Experiments" on the 28th of last month, proposing a six-month halt on the development of generative AI technologies more powerful than ChatGPT-4 until safety protocols related to AI use are established.
U.S. President Joe Biden also mentioned the risks of AI during a White House meeting that day, urging Congress to pass privacy protection legislation that limits IT companies' collection of personal data.
EU countries are also beginning investigations into ChatGPT. Germany announced on the 3rd that it may take measures to block ChatGPT and requested additional information from the Italian government regarding the reasons behind Italy's ban on ChatGPT. France and Ireland have also agreed to share Italy's investigation results through their national data information agencies.
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