Italian regulator fines Character Technologies €158k for minors' privacy breaches

The Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante) imposed a €158,000 fine on U.S. company Character Technologies Inc., the operator of the generative‑AI chat service Character.AI, which is accessible to minors. The authority identified several violations of data‑protection rules, including insufficient user information, a delayed data‑impact assessment, the absence of an EU representative, and inadequate safeguards for children.

The Garante ordered Character Technologies to improve its age‑verification system, introduce a mandatory cooling‑off period for accounts blocked as underage, set default private profiles for minor users, and to report the corrective measures it has taken within 120 days of receiving the decision.

The sanction highlights growing regulatory scrutiny of AI‑driven platforms that collect personal data from young users and underscores the need for robust privacy and safety mechanisms.