The Guarantor for the protection of personal data has decided to sanction Character Technologies Inc., a US company that manages the generative artificial intelligence service Character.AI. The fine established by the Italian authority amounts to €158,000 and concerns various violations related to the processing of users’ personal data.
Character.AI allows you to create and use virtual characters based on artificial intelligence via chat, offering an experience accessible even to minor users. Precisely the presence of young people among the users led the Guarantor to examine with particular attention the protection systems and procedures adopted by the platform.
The investigation, initiated directly by the Authority, highlighted some problems in compliance with privacy legislation. Among the contested aspects are: information provided to users considered insufficientthe delay in carrying out the impact assessment on personal data protection and the subsequent designation of the company’s representative in the European Union.
The critical issues identified by the Italian Privacy Guarantor in Character.AI
The Guarantor has also identified specific critical issues regarding the protection of minors and the functioning of the mechanisms used to verify the age of members. According to the authority, the use of generative artificial intelligence in an entertainment service also frequented by young users entails risks that require adequate preventive measures.
During the process, Character Technologies had already introduced some changes. The Guarantor recognized the interventions carried out by the company, but nevertheless established further obligations to increase the level of security of the platform.
Among the key demands, the company will have to ensure that age verification systems work properly, prevent already blocked minors from quickly creating new accounts through a mandatory waiting period, and automatically enable more restrictive privacy settings for child profiles. minor users. Character Technologies must communicate the measures adopted to the Guarantor within 120 days of receiving the provision.
