The federal privacy commissioner has released a report stemming from a joint investigation into Open AI’s collection and use of personal information.
The investigation found that the tech developer did not respect Canadian privacy laws by collecting data on Canadians in its development of ChapGPT.
Philippe Dufresne and his provincial counterparts found that OpenAI did not respect Canadian or provincial privacy laws in scraping personal data from the internet.
As Quebec privacy commissioner Naomi Ayotte pointed out, information is not public just because it is online.
BC Privacy Commissioner, Michael Harvey (via CPAC)
BC’s privacy commissioner, who previously served in the role in this province for years, Michael Harvey says OpenAI contravened all but one of BC’s privacy laws.
“To initially train ChaptGPT, Open AI scraped vast amounts of personal information from publicly accessible websites. This was widespread and indiscriminate. Social media, discussion forums, blog posts, news outlets and more, whether from a child or an adult. All of this publicly-sourced information was obtained without any type of consent recognized under PIPA (BC’s Personal information Protection Act).”
Dufresne says OpenAI has agreed to consider privacy laws moving forward and while current laws apply to AI, new laws must also be created.
“This investigation also further reinforces the need to modernize Canada’s privacy laws for the digital age, as AI is increasingly being integrated into personal and professional applications. And while current laws apply to AI, updated laws would help further support the safe deployment of new technologies to protect Canadians fundamental right to privacy.”
