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Elon Musk’s X is facing complaints in nine European countries for utilizing personal user data to train its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok without consent.
Earlier this month, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) took X to court over its AI data practices. Following a hearing on Aug. 7, X agreed to suspend processing personal data from European users for its AI. However, some privacy advocates argue that the DPC’s move didn’t go far enough.
On Aug. 12, None of Your Business (NOYB), a non-profit organization based in Vienna, Austria, announced that it lodged complaints against X with data protection authorities in Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Poland.
The group criticized X for “never proactively” informing its users that their personal data is being used for AI training, noting that many people appeared to have discovered the default setting through a July 26 viral post.
“The court documents are not public, but from the oral hearing, we understand that the DPC was not questioning the legality of this processing itself,” Max Schrems, chairman of NOYB, wrote, adding:
“It seems the DPC was concerned with so-called ‘mitigation measures’ and a lack of cooperation by Twitter. The DPC seems to take action around the edges, but shies away from the core problem.”
“What happened with EU data that was already ingested in the systems and how can Twitter (properly) separate EU and non-EU data,” NOYB noted, calling for a full investigation “to ensure that the core legal problems around Twitter’s AI training are fully addressed.”
The group argues that broader involvement from other EU data protection authorities will increase pressure on both the Irish DPC to pursue its case and on X to adhere to the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
GDPR aims to empower individuals to control how companies use their personal information, and NOYB has been at the forefront of enforcing these rights. In June, it launched a similar legal action against Meta, which led the social media giant to pause its AI plans.
NOYB’s history of court proceedings against tech giants often spurs regulatory action. The group’s activism began in 2018 with the implementation of the GDPR.