How our personal data is collected and used online, especially to train artificial intelligence algorithms? That's what you are asking the Privacy Guarantor in Italy, launching an investigation focusing on risks and the possible solutions for the security of personal data on public and private sites, a topic of growing interest for both users and operators in the sector.
The privacy regulator wants clarity: how is personal data used in AI training?
The investigation by the Guarantor for the protection of personal data and privacy represents a fundamental step in safeguarding online privacy. In the digital information age, the collection of personal data it has reached unprecedented dimensions, often escaping the control of users. This investigation focuses on using such data to train artificial intelligence algorithms, a field that has seen exponential growth in recent years.
It is worth mentioning that in March 2023 the same Guarantor has temporarily ChatGPT blocked in Italy as it “did not comply” with data protection regulations.
AI algorithms, powerful tools in data management and analysis, can represent a threat to privacy if not adequately controlled. The Guarantor aims to verify the adoption of effective security measures to prevent the massive collection of personal data through techniques such as webscraping. Webscraping, in particular, allows the automatic collection of large quantities of data from websites, often without the explicit consent of users.
This initiative involves a wide range of stakeholders, both public and private, and aims to create a constructive dialogue with trade associations, consumers, experts and academic representatives. The goal is to collect feedback and suggestions on how to improve existing security measures and implement new ones, thus addressing one of the most pressing challenges of the digital age: protection of personal data and privacy in AI.
The outcome of this investigation could lead to the adoption of new regulations or recommendations, which are essential to ensure the ethical and responsible use of personal data online. It is a topic that concerns all internet users, and underlines the importance of a greater awareness and a collective commitment to the protection of privacy.
