Red flags in Govt: Can GenAI models track prompts of officials, leverage citizens’ data?

India's funding of the development of indigenous large language models (LLMs) under its Rs 10,370-crore India AI Mission has raised concerns about the potential for GenAI models to track prompts of government officials and leverage citizens' data. This development has significant implications for website owners, particularly those operating in India or catering to Indian audiences. As the Indian government invests in LLMs, website owners may see an increase in AI bot traffic from these indigenous models, which could potentially be used to collect citizen data. Website owners must be aware of the data collection and usage policies of these models to ensure they are not inadvertently compromising their users' privacy. To prepare for this shift, website owners should take actionable steps such as reviewing their data protection policies, monitoring AI bot traffic to their sites, and updating their llms.txt files to reflect the changing landscape of LLMs in India. Additionally, they should consider implementing measures to detect and block suspicious AI bot activity, and ensure that their user data handling practices comply with Indian regulations.