SINGAPORE, July 13 — Organisations in Singapore that use personal data to train generative artificial intelligence models may soon need to clearly inform affected users under proposed new guidelines.

The Straits Times reported today that Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) wants organisations to issue AI-specific notices instead of relying on broad privacy statements saying data may be used for purposes such as developing new products.

“Individuals may rightfully have concerns over their personal data of a more sensitive nature being exposed, reconstructed and/or disclosed to third parties from generative AI models,” the commission was quoted as saying.

The commision reportedly said the notices should explain what an AI model does, the types of personal data it uses and how users can opt out or withdraw their consent.

Such data could reportedly include names, email addresses, transaction and location records, as well as video, voice and other recordings.

A company developing a text-to-speech service, for example, should inform users that their voice recordings will be used to train the model and explain how the data helps it recognise speech patterns.

The notices could be displayed through in-app pop-ups, dedicated webpages, privacy policy updates or emails containing links to opt out of AI training.

According to the report, however, it remains unclear whether companies would need to obtain explicit consent or whether providing an opt-out option would be sufficient.

The proposed guidelines also reportedly do not specify whether the requirement would apply when personal data is anonymised before being used to train an AI model.

It is also reportedly unclear whether banks, insurers, social media platforms and other organisations could refuse services to users who do not consent to their data being used for AI training.

The month-long public consultation on the proposals ended on July 1 as the PDPC considers how Singapore’s data protection framework should respond to the growing use of generative AI and AI-enabled devices that collect biometric information.