Artificial Intelligence: Greece Appeals Against X

X (formerly Twitter) has been the target of calls from nine European countries, including Greece, over the “illegal” use of users’ personal data to train artificial intelligence, according to a statement. From Noib Association.

According to the announcement, Twitter International (now renamed “X”) has begun illegally using the personal data of over 60 million users in the EU/EEA to train its AI technologies (such as “Grok”) without their consent.”

He even points out that unlike Meta (which recently had to halt AI training in the EU), Twitter did not inform its users in advance.

This has gone too far even for the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC): last week it launched legal proceedings against Twitter to stop the unlawful processing, but the DPC appears to have stopped short of fully implementing the GDPR. noyb is now following nine complaints.

The association, which stands for “None of Your Business,” has taken several actions against internet giants.

artificial intelligence

The NGO has filed petitions in Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland to force the social network to respect the rights of its more than 60 million users in Europe.

Noyb took note of the announcement by Elon Musk’s network to suspend the use of personal data following an agreement reached with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which acts on behalf of the European Union.

But it calls for a “full investigation” to “ensure that Twitter (the former name of X Network) fully respects” the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which requires user consent.

The association, which stands for “None of Your Business,” has filed numerous appeals against the internet giants.

Rather, it asserts that the processing of personal data is unlawful by definition in the EU. Therefore, to process personal data, Twitter must rely on one of the six legal bases under Article 6(1) of the GDPR. While the logical choice would be opt-in consent, Twitter – like Meta – claims to have a “legitimate interest” that goes beyond users’ fundamental rights. This approach has already been rejected by a court in a case involving Meta’s use of personal data for targeted advertising. However, the Irish Data Protection Commission appears to have “negotiated” the “legitimate interest” approach in recent months in the “consultation” process under Article 36 of the GDPR.

Information provided via X’s “viral” post.

As previously noted, Twitter never proactively informed its users that their personal data was being used to train the AI ​​— though it did send them unwanted notifications every time someone liked or retweeted its posts. Instead, most people seem to have learned about the new default via a widely shared post by a user named “@EasyBakedOven” on July 26, 2024 — two months after the AI ​​training began.

In Meta’s case alone, its actions led to “administrative fines of more than €1.5 billion,” he recalls.

The US social media giant (Facebook, Instagram), which was the target of Noyb’s calls in 11 European countries, was forced to suspend its program last June for using its users’ personal data in an artificial intelligence program.

source: after that