Italy bans ChatGPT over data privacy concerns

OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot was temporarily banned in Italy amidst concerns that it violated the country's  data collection laws.

Italy data privacy regulator Garante questioned OpenAI's data collection practices and whether the breadth of data being retained was legal. It also took issue with the lack of an age verification system to prevent minors from being exposed to inappropriate answers.

A month later, Garante announced ChatGPT had been reinstated 'with enhanced transparency and rights for European users,' such as EU users being able to toggle off the option for conversations to be used for training ChatGPT's algorithms, and an age verification system for children under 13. 

OpenAI also had to publish a notice making users aware that ChatGPT could produce inaccurate information about 'people, places or facts.' 

The ban and investigation came shortly after a March 2023 bug that jeopardised some ChatGPT users' personal data, including their chat histories and payment details.