If you create an AI character and make it public, Character.AI can keep that character running on its platform even after you delete your account, potentially indefinitely.
This analysis describes what Character.AI's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision effectively overrides a user's deletion request for content embedded in a public character, which may conflict with data deletion rights under GDPR and US state privacy laws and creates a situation where personal information embedded in a character persona persists without the user's ongoing consent.
Previous version had no excerpt; current version now provides explicit language about character preservation rights and advises users not to include personal information in character creation.
View full change record →If you have created and published a public AI character, deleting your account does not guarantee that character or any personal information embedded in it will be removed from Character.AI's platform.
How other platforms handle this
We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide our services, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. The specific retention periods depend on the type of information and the purposes for which it is processed.
We keep information for as long as we need it to provide our products, comply with legal obligations, or for other legitimate purposes, such as to maintain safety, security, and integrity.
After your account is deleted, we keep data about interactions you've had on our service to prevent abuse, ban evaders and others in an effort to protect and ensure the safety and security of our service and our members.
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Character.AI has changed this document before.
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"If a Character you create has been made available to other users, then we reserve the right to preserve that Character's characteristics and to keep that Character active on the Services, even if you otherwise delete your data and your account. We do this to avoid impacting the experience of other users. To ensure that we do not retain information about you when this occurs, please avoid submitting any such information as part of the Character creation flow if you are creating a Character that you plan to make available to others.— Excerpt from Character.AI's Character.ai Privacy Policy
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision directly engages GDPR Article 17 (right to erasure) and equivalent deletion rights under CCPA and US state comprehensive privacy laws. Under GDPR, the right to erasure is not absolute and exceptions exist for compliance with legal obligations or tasks carried out in the public interest, but a commercial rationale of preserving user experience for other users may not constitute a recognized exception. The EU data protection authorities and California Privacy Protection Agency are the primary enforcement bodies. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. Asserting the right to retain user-generated content and associated data after an account deletion request, based on a general user experience rationale, creates direct tension with statutory erasure rights. The policy's suggested workaround, advising users not to include personal information in public characters, transfers compliance risk to users rather than addressing the underlying data retention obligation, which regulators may view unfavorably. JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU and UK users have the strongest erasure rights and this provision faces the greatest regulatory challenge in those jurisdictions. California residents under CCPA have deletion rights that cover user-generated content. The provision's global application means it affects users across multiple regulatory regimes simultaneously. In jurisdictions without comprehensive privacy law, the provision may be fully enforceable as a contractual matter. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: This clause does not create direct vendor obligations but represents a policy position that could be challenged in regulatory investigations or litigation. Legal teams should assess whether the retention of public characters constitutes processing of personal data under applicable definitions and whether a legitimate interest balancing test or other GDPR basis can be documented and defended. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should assess whether the character creation data retained post-deletion constitutes personal data under GDPR and CCPA definitions, and if so, document the specific retention basis. A legitimate interest assessment under GDPR Article 6(1)(f) should be conducted and recorded if legitimate interest is the claimed basis. Privacy notices should clearly disclose this retention practice before users create public characters, not merely in a post-hoc advisory as currently drafted.
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This provision effectively overrides a user's deletion request for content embedded in a public character, which may conflict with data deletion rights under GDPR and US state privacy laws and creates a situation where personal information embedded in a character persona persists without the user's ongoing consent.
If you have created and published a public AI character, deleting your account does not guarantee that character or any personal information embedded in it will be removed from Character.AI's platform.
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