On April 12, 2024, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) launched the third installment in its consultation series examining how data protection law applies to the development and use of generative AI. This installment focuses on how the data protection principle of accuracy applies to the outputs of generative AI models, and the impact that accurate training data has on the output. The two previous installments discussed the lawful basis for web scraping to train generative AI models, and purpose limitation in the generative AI lifecycle.
The latest installment considers the situations where accuracy is required, the link between the purpose of the generative AI model and whether such purpose determines the need for accuracy, and the impact of training data on the accuracy of the output. The ICO notes the difference between the data protection principle of accuracy and the idea of “statistical accuracy,” and how these concepts impact the generative AI analysis. The ICO also proposes two sets of expectations: one for generative AI developers and one for generative AI deployers. The consultation is open until May 10, 2024.