The union of Europe’s national privacy watchdogs announced on Thursday the formation of a ChatGPT task force to develop artificial intelligence privacy guidelines.
The European Data Protection Board’s action follows Italy’s unilateral decision to halt ChatGPT last month, a stance that Germany’s data protection commissioner said could be adopted in Europe’s largest economy.
On Thursday, Spain’s AEPD authority announced its own preliminary inquiry into alleged data breaches by ChatGPT.
ChatGPT, an AI programme that drew public notice for its capacity to generate speedy responses to a wide range of enquiries, has grown to be the fastest-growing consumer application in history while raising concerns about potential hazards to safety, privacy, and security.
Experts, as well as the US government and numerous other European nations, have raised worry about the rapid rise of ChatGPT and similar AI technologies.
According to the statement, “The EDPB members discussed the recent enforcement action undertaken by the Italian data protection authority against OpenAI about the Chat GPT service,”
“The EDPB decided to launch a dedicated task force to foster cooperation and to exchange information on possible enforcement actions conducted by data protection authorities.”
Member states intended to harmonize their policy positions, according to a source at one national watchdog who begged not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
According to the source, member nations were not looking to punish or impose regulations on ChatGPT owner OpenAI, but rather to develop broad policies that were “transparent.”