OpenAI Privacy Policy

This is OpenAI's US Privacy Policy covering ChatGPT and other consumer-facing services, describing what personal data OpenAI collects, how it uses that data, and what controls users have. The policy states that user-submitted content including prompts, files, images, audio, and video may be used to train OpenAI's AI models unless the user opts out, and that Free and Go tier users are subject to personalized advertising based on their ads history and interests, with data shared with select marketing partners for cross-context behavioral advertising. The policy also discloses that when users connect their device contacts, OpenAI uploads and retains information from those address books, including data about individuals who do not themselves use OpenAI's services.

This document is OpenAI's US Privacy Policy (effective September 10, 2026), governing the collection, use, disclosure, and retention of personal data from users of OpenAI's consumer-facing services including ChatGPT, and does not apply to data processed under business API customer agreements. The policy states that OpenAI collects identifiers, device information, log and usage data, geolocation, user content including prompts, files, images, audio, and video, contact data from device address books, and advertising history and interests for Free and Go users, and authorizes use of this data to provide services, conduct research, train AI models (subject to user opt-out), and personalize and serve targeted advertisements to Free and Go users. The policy discloses sharing of limited data with select marketing partners for cross-context behavioral advertising, which the document acknowledges is regulated under certain state privacy laws, and reserves broad disclosure authority to government authorities under a multi-factor good-faith standard including 'sole discretion' determinations of policy violations; the contact data upload provision, which collects address book information about non-users and stores it to notify the account holder if those non-users later join, raises questions about consent from third parties not party to this agreement. The policy references engagement with GDPR (through a separate EEA/UK/Switzerland policy), CCPA and other US state privacy laws (through dedicated state disclosure sections and opt-out mechanisms), and COPPA (through a minimum age of 13 and parental permission requirements for users under 18); California-specific rights reporting is disclosed, and the policy references Global Privacy Control as a recognized opt-out mechanism. Material compliance considerations include the opt-out architecture for AI model training and targeted advertising, data retention carve-outs for banned accounts and legal obligations, cross-border data transfer to US-based servers under 'legally valid transfer mechanisms,' and the scope of business account administrator access to employee content.

The agreement authorizes OpenAI to collect and use user-submitted content including prompts, files, images, audio, and video to train AI models, subject to a user opt-out available in account settings. Under these terms, Free and Go users' advertising history and interests are collected and used to personalize ads, and limited data is shared with select marketing partners for cross-context behavioral advertising, with opt-out available through account settings, the Your Privacy Choices link, or a recognized mechanism such as Global Privacy Control. You can opt out of model training data use, control ad personalization, export your ChatGPT data, delete conversations or your account, and submit data subject requests at privacy.openai.com or dsar@openai.com.