Italy penalises Character.AI for data privacy framework violations

Italian data protection authority Garante fined Character.AI parent firm Character Technologies €158,000 on Thursday following an investigation into data protection breaches and deficient child safety measures. The platform allows users, including teenagers, to interact with customizable, artificial intelligence-generated virtual personalities. The platform has been under intense scrutiny across Europe regarding how the organisation handles younger demographics.

The watchdog highlighted several violations of the strict General Data Protection Regulation framework of the European Union. These infractions included significant shortcomings in the information provided to users regarding the processing of their personal data. Additionally, the regulator stated that the company failed to submit a Data Protection Impact Assessment on time and was late in appointing an official European Union representative.

The investigation concluded that the platform lacked robust mechanisms to prevent young minors from registering or being exposed to potentially adult or unsuitable content. The authority raised critical concerns about the general safeguards available for minors and the overall effectiveness of existing age-verification procedures. Garante stated that further protections were necessary beyond the measures the company already has in place.

The Italian data protection authority remains one of the most proactive regulators in Europe regarding artificial intelligence. The watchdog previously took strict enforcement action against other major generative technology platforms. The regulator briefly banned the use of OpenAI chatbot ChatGPT over age-check and data collection issues.