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Is Italy's ChatGPT Ban Setting a New Standard for the Rest of Europe?

 

After Italy became the first Western country to block advanced chatbot ChatGPT on Friday due to a lack of transparency in its data use, Europe is wondering who will follow. Several neighboring countries have already expressed interest in the decision.

“In the space of a few days, specialists from all over the world and a country, Italy, are trying to slow down the meteoric progression of this technology, which is as prodigious as it is worrying,” writes the French daily Le Parisien.


Many cities in France have already begun with their own research “to assess the changes brought about by ChatGPT and the consequences of its use in the context of local action,” reports Ouest-France.


The city of Montpellier wants to ban ChatGPT for municipal staff, as a precaution," the paper reports. “The ChatGPT software should be banned within municipal teams considering that its use could be detrimental.”


According to the BBC, the Irish data protection commission is following up with the Italian regulator to understand the basis for its action and "will coordinate with all E.U. (European Union) data protection authorities" in relation to the ban.


The Information Commissioner's Office, the United Kingdom's independent data regulator, also told the BBC that it would "support" AI developments while also "challenging non-compliance" with data protection laws.


ChatGPT is already restricted in several countries, including China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The E.U. is in the process of preparing the Artificial Intelligence Act, legislation “to define which AIs are likely to have societal consequences,” explains Le Parisien. “This future law should in particular make it possible to fight against the racist or misogynistic biases of generative artificial intelligence algorithms and software (such as ChatGPT). 


The Artificial Intelligence Act also proposes appointing one regulator in charge of artificial intelligence in each country.


The Italian situation

The Italian data protection authority explained that it was banning and investigating ChatGPT due to privacy concerns about the model, which was developed by a U.S. start-up called OpenAI, which is backed by billions of dollars in investment from Microsoft.


The decision "with immediate effect" announced by the Italian National Authority for the Protection of Personal data was taken because “the ChatGPT robot is not respecting the legislation on personal data and does not have a system to verify the age of minor users,” Le Point reported. 


“The move by the agency, which is independent from the government, made Italy the first Western country to take action against a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence,” wrote Reuters. 


The Italian data protection authority stated that it would not only block OpenAI's chatbot, but would also investigate whether it complied with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation.

Protecting minors

It goes on to say that the new technology "exposes minors to completely inappropriate answers in comparison to their level of development and awareness."


According to the press release from the Italian Authority, on March 20, ChatGPT "suffered a loss of data ('data breach') concerning user conversations and information relating to the payment of subscribers to the paid service."


It also mentions the "lack of a legal basis justifying the mass collection and storage of personal data for the purpose of 'training' the algorithms underlying the platform's operation."


ChatGPT was released to the public in November and was quickly adopted by millions of users who were impressed by its ability to answer difficult questions clearly, mimic writing styles, write sonnets and papers, and even pass exams. ChatGPT can also be used without any technical knowledge to write computer code.


“Since its release last year, ChatGPT has set off a tech craze, prompting rivals to launch similar products and companies to integrate it or similar technologies into their apps and products,” writes Reuters.


"On Friday, OpenAI, which disabled ChatGPT for users in Italy in response to the agency's request, said it is actively working to reduce the use of personal data in training its AI systems like ChatGPT."


According to Euronews, the Italian watchdog has now asked OpenAI to "communicate within 20 days the measures undertaken" to remedy the situation, or face a fine of €20 million ($21.7 million) or up to 4% of annual worldwide turnover.


The announcement comes after Europol, the European police agency, warned on Monday that criminals were ready to use AI chatbots like ChatGPT to commit fraud and other cybercrimes. The rapidly evolving capabilities of chatbots, from phishing to misinformation and malware, are likely to be quickly exploited by those with malicious intent, Europol warned in a report.


Swiss Army Bans WhatsApp at Work

 

A spokesman for the Swiss army announced Thursday that the use of WhatsApp while on duty has been prohibited, in favour of a Swiss messaging service regarded more safe in terms of data security. 

Using other messaging applications like Signal and Telegram on soldiers' personal phones during service activities is likewise barred. 

Commanders and chiefs of staff got an email from headquarters at the end of December advising that their troops switch to the Swiss-based Threema. According to army spokesman Daniel Reist, the recommendation applies "to everyone," including conscripts serving in the military and those returning for refresher courses. 

Switzerland is known for its neutrality. However, the landlocked European country's long-standing position is one of armed neutrality and has mandatory conscription for men.

During operations to assist hospitals and the vaccination campaign in Switzerland's efforts to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic, the concern of using messaging apps on duty came up, as per Reist. The Swiss army will bear the cost of downloading Threema, which is already used by other Swiss public agencies, for four Swiss francs ($4.35, 3.85 euros). 

Other messaging services, such as WhatsApp, are governed by the US Cloud Act, which permits US authorities to access data held by US operators, even if it is stored on servers located outside of the nation. Threema, which claims to have ten million users, describes itself as an instant messenger that collects as little data as possible. It is not supported by advertisements. 

The company states on its website, "All communication is end-to-end encrypted, and the app is open source." 

According to an army spokesman mentioned in a Tamedia daily report, data security is one of the reasons for the policy change. As per local surveys, WhatsApp is the most popular messenger app among 16- to 64-year-olds in Switzerland.

Indians to use VPN as a way to evade ban on Chinese Apps


It seems like people have found a way to circumvent government's ban on 59 Chinese Apps including favorites like TikTok, Share it, Shien, Clash of Kings, and many more and have moved on to use VPN (Virtual Private Network) to access these apps.


Right after the ban announcement by government companies like SatoshiVPNS put an advert on their social media stating, Ann investment in a VPN is an investment that always pays for itself — many times over.” There have been articles on blabberpost and others recommending how and which VPN to use to access the banned applications.

And it's not the first time Indians have turned to VPN to dodge regulations, in fact, we are quite notorious when it comes to VPN. After Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - the largest telecom providers in the country- took down porn websites from their network, India fell only three steps from 12 to 15 in terms of visitors to Pornhub. A 2019 report from Pornhub revealed that 91% of Indian users access the site via mobile phone.

 Since February, India has seen a growth of 15% in VPN usage, according to a report by ExpressVPN; the global average stands at 21%. 

By the books, using VPN is not illegal in India for as much as it's not used for any illegal activity. The most common use of a VPN in the country is either to watch pornography or to access torrents and both of these do not summon legal actions.

Since the suspension of Internet service from August 2019 till March 2020 in the Kashmir Valley and the aftermath of weak 2g and 3g networks, many citizens turned to VPN in order to reach blocked content Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. The government even arrested some for using VPN to promote unlawful activities.
after the ban, Google and Apple App Store removed TikTok and Helo for Indian users but other banned apps like Browsers, Club Factory, Shein, ShareIT, and Clash of Kings are still listed on both the stores.

CRPF bans its troops from playing PUBG Mobile

At some point or the other, most of us would have thought about how good military personnel will be at playing PUBG. Well, it seems that they are indeed good at the battle royale game, however, PUBG is apparently affecting them dearly.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) recently instructed its commanding officers to ban troops from playing the Battle Royale game, PUBG Mobile.

A senior CRPF officer posted in the paramilitary force’s Delhi headquarters said an internal survey shows that the “addiction” had “affected the jawans’ operational capabilities”.

Senior officials also argued that the game affects other aspects of the troops' lives.

“Many of them have stopped socialising with their fellow jawans. It has also led to sleep deprivation because of reduced physical activity,” a senior CRPF officer posted in CRPF’s Delhi headquarters was quoted as saying. Another officer said that “a violent game like PUBG has led to aggressive thoughts, emotions and behaviour, affecting the jawans’ mental well-being. Spending most of their time on the virtual game has left them socially inactive.” Apparently, several jawans have isolated themselves from the real world, “which is dangerous for physical and mental health”.

“It has been reportedly learned that CRPF troops, young personnel are addicted to PUBG. It’s getting these men addicted to it and getting them engaged to a great extent which is affecting their ops performance, aggressive and attitudinal issues,” said the May 6 order issued by the Bihar unit.

“All deputy inspectors-general (DIGs) to ensure and instruct all unit/company personnel under your command to get it deleted/deactivated such apps from their mobile phones. All company commanders will ensure that this app is deleted in all phones and random check of phones should be done,” the circular, sent to all CRPF formations and the force’s anti-insurgency CoBRA unit, added.

PUBG has emerged as one of the most popular games around the world. PUBG is already in the news for being a major distraction for children and teens.

Madras high court lifts ban on Tik Tok but you still can’t download it

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court removed the interim ban on TikTok on April 24, three weeks after it had asked the government to prohibit further downloads of the popular Chinese short-video application.

TikTok allows users to create and share short videos with special effects and is one of the world’s most popular apps.

On April 3, the app was prohibited in the country because of concern it exposed children to pornography and other disturbing content.

The Chinese parent company had appealed to the apex court against the high court's order. Beijing Bytedance Technology Co. said ban led to financial losses of up to US$500,000 a day and had put more than 250 jobs at risk.

Amicus Curiae Arvind Datar, appointed by the court to examine the implications of the app, argued on Wednesday that banning an application is not the solution, and rights of legitimate users must be protected.

The Supreme Court had on Monday asked the Madras High Court to decide in its hearing on Wednesday ByteDance’s plea against the latter’s interim order of banning the app.

Last week, Google and Apple removed TikTok from their app stores on the directions of the government. The app, however, is still not available for download on both Android and iOS devices. Even if you try to install it via Google Chrome from a computer, the app listing page shows an error. A report by Gadgets 360 suggests that Madras High Court has still not sent the directive officially to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. This is the reason the government hasn't been able to ask Google and Apple to make the apps available officially on their app stores.

While the reason for the delay is still unknown, those who are interested in downloading the app will still have to rely on third-party websites for downloading it on Android phones. Do note that the case is still ongoing and it could be a while before the court sends the directive to the government to remove the ban on the app.