Elon Musk's X platform is facing scrutiny from data protection authorities (DPAs) in both the UK and Ireland after it was revealed that users are unknowingly consenting to their posts being used for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) systems through a default setting on the app. The UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) have contacted X concerning the attempt to obtain user consent for data harvesting without their explicit knowledge. This issue was uncovered by an X user who pointed out a default setting on the app that allows the account holder's posts to be used for training Grok, an AI chatbot created by Musk's xAI business. The setting, already enabled by default, permits user posts, interactions, inputs, and results with Grok to be used for "training and fine-tuning". Both the ICO and DPC have expressed concern about the lack of transparency and user awareness regarding this default setting.
A spokesperson for the ICO said: "Platforms seeking to use their users' data to train their AI foundation models must be transparent about their activities," said a spokesperson for the ICO. "They should take steps to proactively notify users well in advance of using data for these purposes, and provide people with ample time and simple processes to object to having their data used in this way."
Meanwhile, DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said that the DPC has "been engaging with X on this matter for a number of months, with our latest interaction occurring as recently as yesterday, therefore we are surprised by today's developments. We have followed up with X today and are awaiting a response. We expect further engagement early next week."
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