The Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante) has imposed a fine of €15.58 million (approx INR 140 crore) on OpenAI for violating data protection laws. The investigation focused on the handling of personal data by ChatGPT and raised concerns about transparency and the legal basis for processing user information. This decision, announced on December 20, 2024, marks the first major penalty under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) against a leading player in the generative AI sector in Europe.
According to Garante’s findings, OpenAI processed users’ personal data for training ChatGPT without a valid legal basis, violating principles of transparency and failing to fulfill information obligations towards users. The investigation also revealed that the company did not comply with transparency requirements and did not have an effective age verification system to protect children under 13 from potentially harmful content.
In addition to the fine, OpenAI has been ordered to conduct a six-month public awareness campaign in Italian media, explaining how ChatGPT collects and uses data from both users and non-users to train its algorithms. OpenAI has described the decision as “disproportionate” and has announced plans to appeal. The company has stated that the fine exceeds its revenue from Italy during the relevant period and has emphasized its cooperation with the regulator and efforts to address previous privacy concerns.
The investigation was initiated in 2023 after Garante temporarily banned ChatGPT for violating EU privacy rules. The ban was lifted after OpenAI made changes, including allowing users to opt out of their data being used for algorithm training. The €15 million penalty is part of GDPR enforcement, which allows fines of up to €20 million or 4% of a company’s global turnover. Garante has stated that OpenAI’s cooperative stance was taken into account when determining the penalty, indicating that it could have been higher.
Recently, OpenAI concluded its “12 Days of OpenAI” by launching the next-generation frontier models o3 and o3 Mini. The post Italy Fines OpenAI 15 Million Euros Over ChatGPT Privacy Violations appeared first on Analytics India Magazine.
