ICO Launches Consultation Series On Generative AI And Data Protection

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection authority and enforcer of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), has announced a series of consultations on how aspects of data protection law should apply to the development and use of generative AI models. The ICO is one of the key sectoral regulators the government has charged with ensuring, within their respective remits, that AI suppliers, deployers, and users adhere to the five principles outlined in the government's white paper. (See our analysis of the white paper.)

This article explains the ICO guidance on establishing a lawful basis for collecting online personal data (or web scraping) for the purpose of training generative AI models, which will be of interest to developers and users of generative AI models, particularly those that wish to help shape the ICO guidance by responding to the consultation. According to the ICO guidance, published on January 15: