Elon Musk could have yetanother problemwith the European Union.
Musks X has enabled the Grok chatbot to be trained on data from any user.
This feature is now on by default, which may breach EU rules.
Deep within the parameters of X, users unearthed evidence of the data harvesting.
This approach could violate the EUs General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The law restricts companies from expandingdatacollection without telling users and providing a clear opt-out.
According to privacy group NOYB, its very likely that the setting infringed the law.
Twitter/X should have informed its users properly and asked for consent, the Vienna-based non-profit told TNW.
The group is now assessing the details of the data collection.
X and Grok are not alone
Xs approach is reminiscent of a recent move by Meta.
In June, the companywas slammedfor plans to train AI models on personal data without requesting consent from users.
NOYB filed complaints in 11 EU countries about the scheme.
In response, Meta claimed it has a legitimate interest for using the data.
The tech giant argued that it has a legal basis for training AI on publicly available information.
X may make a similar claim.
Whether the EU agrees or not, users can turn the setting off.
But even that isnt particularly straightforward.
On the X mobile app, theres no clear way to turn off the data collection.
Mercifully, the company has permitted deactivation on the web version.
Then un-check the box that sends your data to Elons hungry bot.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).
