Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Launches Investigation Into Company Behind ChatGPT

The OpenAI logo on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying output from ChatGPT in Boston on March 21, 2023. (Michael Dwyer/AP Photo)

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) says it has launched an investigation into OpenAI, the U.S.-based company that created the popular artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT.

“AI technology and its effects on privacy is a priority for my Office,” Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne said in an April 4 announcement. “We need to keep up with–and stay ahead of–fast-moving technological advances, and that is one of my key focus areas as Commissioner.”

The OPC says it launched the investigation into OpenAI because it received a complaint alleging “the collection, use and disclosure of personal information without consent,” according to the announcement. It said it won’t release further details at this time, as the investigation is ongoing.

ChatGPT, which was launched as a prototype last November, uses available online information to provide detailed responses to inquiries that users pose. Two months after it launched, the platform had an estimated 100 million active monthly users, making it the fastest-growing consumer platform in history.

The platform is versatile, having been used to debug computer programs, compose music, write student essays, simulate chat rooms, and play games like Tic-Tac-Toe. OpenAI has also announced it will be adding support for plugins, such as Expedia, OpenTable, Shopify, and Slack.

On March 31, Italy’s data protection authority ordered OpenAI to stop processing Italian users’ personal data with immediate effect. The Italian DPA said it is concerned that OpenAI is breaching the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and is opening an investigation.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When The Epoch Times asked Chat GPT directly about the investigation launched in Canada, the program responded that privacy concerns are a “serious matter” and investigations into privacy violations are “essential to ensure that individuals’ personal information is being handled with the utmost care and respect for their privacy rights.”

ChatGPT told The Epoch Times that while it could not comment on the details of the complaint or the investigation itself, OpenAI has previously made commitments “to prioritize privacy and data protection in its operations, including its language models like ChatGPT.”

“Overall, privacy is an important issue, and it is important for organizations to take steps to protect individuals’ personal information. It is also important for regulators to investigate and enforce privacy laws to ensure that organizations are held accountable for any violations of individuals’ privacy rights,” it said.

Data Breach

In March 2023, some users reported on social media that a ChatGPT bug allowed them to see the titles of other users’ conversations. Days later, OpenAI confirmed that some users’ personal information had been leaked, including “first and last name, email address, payment address, the last four digits (only) of a credit card number, and credit card expiration date.”

“Upon deeper investigation, we also discovered that the same bug may have caused the unintentional visibility of payment-related information of 1.2% of the ChatGPT Plus subscribers who were active during a specific nine-hour window,” the company said in a statement on March 24.

After fixing the bug, OpenAI said it reached out to affected users about the potential data breach.

“We apologize again to our users and to the entire ChatGPT community and will work diligently to rebuild trust,” it said.

There has also been some controversy surrounding the answers ChatGPT provides in response to certain queries. OpenAI has acknowledged that ChatGPT has multiple limitations, including sometimes writing “plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers.” The platform also has limited knowledge of events that occurred after September 2021.

Additionally, there is evidence that the platform has some left-leaning political biases. ChatGPT has refused to write poems about the positive attributes of former U.S. president Donald Trump while consenting to do so about current U.S. President Joe Biden. ChatGPT has also been known to give liberal answers on topics such as affirmative action, diversity, and transgender issues.