Liechtenstein’s Data Regulator Releases AI Chatbot Guidance

The data protection regulator of European country Liechtenstein rolled out new data processing guidance for large language model-powered chatbots such as ChatGPT.

See Also: Live Webinar | Generative AI: Myths, Realities and Practical Use Cases

The guidance comes as existing European data watchdogs are uncertain about how to regulate the technology, which uses large swathes of scraped data, including sensitive user information, to train its algorithms.

In the new guidance, Liechtenstein data regulator Datenschutzstelle said it will monitor how AI chatbots handle users’ cookies and store queries entered by users, as well as how they process customers’ sensitive data, such as healthcare information.

The primary legal basis for compliance will be the consent and transparency clauses of the General Data Protection Regulation, the agency said. Some use cases may provoke additional compliance with the privacy law.

The new data governance regime will mean that companies must obtain consent from users before processing their data or ensure implicit consent when a customer is using the application. The agency said companies could also cite “legitimate interest” as the legal basis.

“If the data processing goes beyond answering the query, for example by creating profiles for advertising purposes, separate consent is required in accordance with Article 6 Paragraph 1 of the GDPR,” the agency said.

The new AI guidance comes as the European Union is set to finalize its AI Act. ChatGPT is currently being probed in Spain, France, Germany and Poland for potential GDPR violations (see: European Scrutiny of ChatGPT Grows as Probes Increase).

Last week, heads of state, including European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen, met with their counterparts in the U.K. to discuss risks posed by artificial intelligence and machine learning (see: UK AI Summit: Aspirations, Benefits and a Lack of ‘Doom’).

“The AI Act is in the final stages of the legislative process. In that process, we are discussing the foundation of a European AI Office,” von der Leyen said at the event. She said the new AI office will enforce a common regulation for the technology across the EU and will allocate resources to develop secure advanced artificial intelligence models and aid the private sector in investigating and testing AI models.