News Summary

OpenAI has been found to have violated Canadian privacy laws during the development and training of its early ChatGPT models according to a joint investigation by Canada’s federal and provincial privacy watchdogs. The investigation revealed that OpenAI collected vast amounts of personal information without proper consent, a breach of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and similar provincial laws. The data collection included sensitive details such as health conditions and political views, often without users’ awareness. In response, OpenAI has committed to several measures to address these concerns, including implementing tools to mask personal information, enhancing data correction and deletion protocols, and providing clearer notices to users about data usage. The company will also offer quarterly updates to Canada’s privacy office as it implements these changes. Additionally, the watchdogs emphasized the need for updates to Canadian privacy laws to better address the challenges posed by AI technologies.