ChatGPT ads land in UK as OpenAI outlines EU privacy rules

Source Domain: digiday.com

Weeks after OpenAI started laying the foundations for running ads in ChatGPT in Europe, it has now started putting up the walls, specifically around how those ads will comply with the region’s privacy laws.

In the latest update to its EU ads policy, which was added on June 2, OpenAI states that it will only serve ads to users who have explicitly opted in, and in turn that it will rely on that consent as the legal basis for processing personal data rather than “legitimate interest” — the broader, more contested basis some companies use to run targeted advertising without asking users directly.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation, that distinction matters since consent requires a clear, affirmative action from the user, and can be withdrawn at any time.

“Your consent, for Free and Go users, when we ask for it to personalize the ads you see,” the policy states.

If people consent to their data being used in those apps then they will get personalized ads based on past chats, memory, ad history as well as advertiser provided data, per the policy. If they don’t consent to their data being used then they will get generic ads, which only use “limited information” like the context of their current ChatGPT conversation such as location and time of data. In other words, they will get contextual ads, not tightly personalized ones.

The updates to the policy come as ChatGPT ads have started appearing in the U.K. though still with some caveats.

OpenAI’s Global head of ads Dave Dugan said as much as today. On LinkedIn, he posted: “We launched ChatGPT ads in the UK last night and proud to be working with the best talent in the industry like [director of AI, data and platform] Alejandro Saucedo and his team at Zalando!” Since then, Dentsu has also confirmed its clients are part of the U.K. ads pilot.

The trial itself for now is reminiscent of what happened when it launched initially in the U.S. in February. At the time,…

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