Poland’s Personal Data Protection Office (UODO) has opened an investigation into a complaint against OpenAI’s ChatGPT, with an unnamed applicant accusing the firm of processing data in an “unlawful, unreliable manner“ - Cointelegraph reports.

In a statement on Sept. 20, Jan Nowak, president of the data protection office, said this was not the first time doubts had been cast on ChatGPT’s compliance with Europe’s principles of data protection and privacy.

The complaint accuses OpenAI of processing data in an unlawful and unreliable manner, and the rules on which it gathers and processes data are not transparent.

The applicant said in his case, ChatGPT generated false information about him, and his demands for the exercise of rights under the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) were not met by OpenAI.

However, Nowak conceded that the proposed proceedings against OpenAI could be difficult as it concerns a company outside the European Union.

“The case concerns the violation of many provisions on the protection of personal data, which is why we will ask OpenAI to answer a number of questions in order to be able to thoroughly conduct administrative proceedings,” said Nowak.

Meanwhile, Jakub Groszkowski, deputy president of UODO, said the allegations in the complaint raise doubts about OpenAI’s approach to Europe’s principles on personal data protection.

UODO will, therefore, clarify these doubts, particularly against the background of the fundamental principle of privacy by design contained in the GDPR, he added.