Advertising and Analytics Data Sharing

What it is

Character.AI shares your personal information with advertising and analytics companies who use tracking technologies to follow your online activity and serve you targeted ads.

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

Personal data including behavioral and device information from an AI chat platform, where users may share sensitive or personal content, is being shared with third-party advertising networks for commercial purposes.

Clause Stability Stable

Change history

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Your usage patterns, device data, and potentially inferred personal preferences from Character.AI are shared with advertising and analytics third parties who may track your activity across the internet to deliver targeted advertising.

What you can do

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance intelligence)

REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision engages CCPA's opt-out rights for sale or sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, GDPR's requirements for lawful basis and consent for tracking-based advertising, and the FTC Act's prohibition on unfair or deceptive practices. The FTC is the primary US enforcement authority. State attorneys general in California and other comprehensive privacy law states also have enforcement jurisdiction. Under GDPR, sharing personal data with advertising networks for behavioral advertising typically requires freely given, specific, and informed consent. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. Sharing user data with advertising networks is a common industry practice, but the combination of an AI chat platform context, where users share personal and potentially sensitive content, with behavioral advertising data sharing creates reputational and regulatory risk that exceeds what might be expected from a standard consumer application. The adequacy of consent or opt-out mechanisms for this sharing is not detailed in the base policy and is deferred to Regional Privacy Disclosures and the Cookie Policy. JURISDICTION FLAGS: California residents have CCPA opt-out rights for sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. EU and UK users require consent under ePrivacy and GDPR for tracking-based advertising. The policy references a separate Cookie Policy for the technical details of tracking, meaning the full scope of this provision can only be assessed by reviewing both documents together. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Advertising and analytics vendors receiving personal data must be assessed as either data processors under GDPR Article 28 or independent controllers, with corresponding contractual and compliance obligations. Standard industry terms with major advertising platforms may require review for compatibility with GDPR data transfer restrictions, particularly post-Schrems II, and for alignment with CCPA service provider restrictions. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should audit the list of advertising and analytics vendors receiving personal data, confirm that data processing agreements are in place, and verify that opt-out mechanisms referenced in the Cookie Policy and Regional Privacy Disclosures are functional and accessible. The interaction between AI chat data and behavioral advertising profiles warrants specific data flow documentation.

Applicable agencies

Applicable regulations

Provision details

Other risks in this policy

• AI Model Training Use of Chat and Voice Data high
• Popular Characters Post-Deletion Retention high
• Sensitive Personal Information Handling high
• Children's Privacy Age Restriction high
• Business Transfer Disclosure medium
• Voice Data Collection high

Related Analysis

• Meta Removed 438 Sentences From Its Privacy Policy. Here Is What Disappeared.

  ConductAtlas detected a major restructuring of Meta’s privacy policy that removed detailed consumer rights disclosures and relocated them to separate documents.

• 23andMe Is Bankrupt. What Happens to Your DNA Now?

  Your genetic data may be transferred to a new owner as a business asset. Here is what the Terms of Service actually say and what you can do right now.