After Italy and Canada, Japan has joined the list of countries that have cautioned OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, against the use of citizens’ personal information without their permission. According to a report by Reuters, the country’s privacy regulator has warned the company “not to collect sensitive data without people's permission”. The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) of Japan said in a statement, “OpenAI should minimise the sensitive data it collects for machine learning”. The regulator added that it may take further action if there are more concerns. The statement, reviewed by Reuters, could not be found on the official website of the PIPC. Why it matters: Japan’s warning further indicates that countries will not hesitate to act against US-based OpenAI if the company’s operations do not fit with existing data protection laws of the land. While the AI-giant has addressed concerns of the Italian government, a third instance of investigation, if that happens, will require greater efforts to ensure user privacy is not hurt. But, will that come at the cost of further development or training of the AI product? Countries that have warned OpenAI: Italy was the first country to impose a temporary ban on ChatGPT in April over concerns of unlawful use of Italian users’ data. The restriction was lifted in May after the company addressed some of the issues raised by Garante, the Italian privacy regulator. During the course of the investigation, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) also indicated that it has decided to…
