Artificial Intelligence: Greece appeals against X

Countries EU accuse X of “illegally” using personal data to train AI.

X (formerly Twitter) has been the target of appeals from nine European countries, including Greece, for “illegally” using users’ personal data to train artificial intelligence, according to a statement from the association Noyb. According to the report, “Twitter International (now renamed “X”) began illegally using the personal data of over 60 million users in the EU/EEA to train its artificial intelligence technologies (such as “Grok”) without their consent.”

He even notes that, unlike Meta (which also recently had to stop training artificial intelligence in the EU), Twitter didn't even inform its users in advance. This was too far even for Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC): Last week, it filed a lawsuit against Twitter to stop the illegal processing of data. Noyb is now monitoring nine complaints.

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

Noyb acknowledges the announcement that Elon Musk's network will suspend the use of personal data following a settlement with the Irish Data Protection Commission, which acts on behalf of the European Union. But he calls for a “full investigation” to “ensure that Twitter is fully compliant” with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which requires user consent.

He even points out that the processing of personal data in the EU is by definition illegal. Twitter must therefore rely on one of six legal bases under Article 6(1) of the GDPR to process personal data. While the logical choice would be voluntary consent, Twitter – like Meta – argues that it has a “legitimate interest” that overrides users’ fundamental rights. This approach has already been rejected by the court in a case involving Meta's use of personal data for targeted advertising. However, it appears that the Irish DPC has “discussed” the “legitimate interest” approach in recent months in a “consultation” process under Article 36 of the GDPR.

As mentioned above, Twitter has never informed its users in advance that their personal data is being used to train AI, even though it sends them notifications every time someone likes or retweets their posts.Instead, it appears that most people learned about the new default setting from a viral post by a user named “@EasyBakedOven” on July 26, 2024 — two months after the AI ​​began training.

In the case of Meta alone, its actions resulted in “administrative fines of more than €1.5 billion.” The giant American social media company (Facebook, Instagram), which was the target of Noyb’s appeals in 11 European countries, was forced to suspend its program in June for using its users’ personal data in an artificial intelligence program.

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