The Irish Data Protection Commission (or DPC, for short) Data Protection Commissionin English), which acts on behalf of the European Union, announced on Thursday, September 12, the opening of an investigation against Google concerning the use of personal data of European users to develop one of its artificial intelligence (AI) models.
The DPC's investigation concerns the AI model “Pathways Language Model 2” (PaLM 2), a version launched by Google in 2023, which aims, among other things, to facilitate translations. The large Californian group had then started to deploy in December of the same year a new AI model, Gemini, even more advanced.
In a press release, the DPC wrote that the investigation must determine “if Google has respected the obligations it could have had” to realize “an impact study” intended to guarantee protection “fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals”.
This obligation arises from the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), established in 2018 by Brussels, which aims to protect the unregulated use of this information by technology giants.
Complaints against Meta in June
The DPC announced at the beginning of the month that the social network X, owned by the American Elon Musk, has definitively committed to no longer exploiting the personal data of its European users to train its artificial intelligence program.
In June, the American social networking specialist Meta (Facebook, Instagram) suspended its project to use its users' personal data in an artificial intelligence program, which was the subject of complaints in eleven European countries.
The Irish Data Protection Commission has jurisdiction to act on behalf of the European Union because Google's European headquarters are in Ireland, as are those of many large Silicon Valley groups. Their presence is crucial to the country's economy, and Dublin offers them attractive tax regimes.
Source: Lemonde
