Ensuring Protection of Personal Information from Artificial Intelligence Technologies

Generative AI tools have gained global popularity, but along with their rise, concerns about privacy have also emerged among individuals and policymakers. Recent reports suggest that in India, generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google Bard might encounter difficulties due to their inability to handle personal data of Indian citizens that is publicly accessible.

According to the Economic Times. This is what experts assume from the leaked version of DPDP (Digital Personal Data Protection) Bill, 2023. Although approved by the government this month, the final bill/draft has not been made public yet.

If this claim turns out to be true, generative AI companies may have to face lawsuits for scraping the personal data of Indians from the public. A similar case is underway in the United States against OpenAI’s ChatGPT platform for violating consumer protection laws by capturing public data.

The Economic Times quotes a technology expert at a public policy think tank as saying: “The removal of Clause 8(8), which listed ‘publicly available personal data’ as a basis for consent in the public interest, could affect new AI developments such as ChatGPT.”

What personal data is publicly available?

Public domains, such as public registries, public search engines or public directories, etc. contain personal information of individuals that is easily accessible or obtainable through various channels. These public domain names are not protected by any laws such as copyright, trademark or patent laws and are easily accessible.

Due to these reasons, several countries such as the United States and Italy have placed strict restrictions on the matter and now India is also trying to protect the privacy of its citizens. This new clause makes generative AI tools take permission to use personal data.