OpenAI · OpenAI Privacy Policy · View original document ↗

Data Sharing with Law Enforcement and Government Authorities

High severity Rare · 1 of 343 platforms
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Recent governance activity OpenAI recorded 28 documented changes in the last 30 days.
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Document Record

What it is

OpenAI can hand your personal data — including your conversations — to police, government agencies, or private parties if it believes this is necessary for legal compliance, safety, or fraud prevention.

This analysis describes what OpenAI'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

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

This clause establishes the conditions and parties to whom OpenAI may transfer user personal information outside normal service operations. The provision grounds disclosure authority in legal compliance, safety protection, and fraud prevention, creating a defined pathway for information sharing with government and law enforcement entities.

Recent Activity

This document changed recently

Medium Jun 12, 2026

The updated policy removes language describing how OpenAI uses advertiser and data partner information to personalize ads and measure ad effectiveness. The policy also removes the specific mechanism Free and Go users previously had to control ad personalization through account settings. In exchange, the policy adds explicit authorization for OpenAI to identify which of a user's contacts use OpenAI services and to monitor all content submitted on the platform for fraud and misuse detection. The authorization to monitor content and identify contacts now appears in the main policy purposes section rather than in supplementary documentation. You can review the Korea Addendum if you are located in South Korea to understand region-specific privacy rules.

View change record →
Medium Jun 9, 2026

The updated policy removes language that previously described ad personalization controls available to Free and Go users through account settings, though the policy continues to authorize OpenAI to personalize ads and measure their effectiveness for these user tiers. Previously, the policy explicitly stated that 'For Free and Go users, you can use the advertising controls in your account settings to control what data we use to personalize the ads we show you on our Services.' This language is no longer present in the updated version. The policy still lists ad personalization as an authorized use of personal data for Free and Go users, but no longer explicitly describes how users can access controls to manage this practice. You should verify whether advertising controls remain functional in your OpenAI account settings, as the policy no longer explicitly references them.

View change record →
Medium May 27, 2026

The updated policy removes specific language stating that OpenAI receives advertiser data to personalize ads shown to Free and Go users. It also removes reference to account-level advertising controls previously described in account settings. These removals are replaced with broader language authorizing OpenAI to promote products through direct marketing and third-party properties, subject to choices and controls, but the terms no longer explicitly describe what advertiser data is collected, from whom, or how to manage it at the account level. The policy now requires users to follow a 'learn more' link to understand ad personalization controls, rather than documenting those controls directly in the privacy policy.

View change record →

Clause Stability Stable

0
Changes
3
Months Monitored
Apr 10, 2026
First Seen
Apr 10, 2026
Last Seen
This clause type exists across 1153 other provisions on other platforms.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Your ChatGPT conversations and personal data can be shared with law enforcement or government agencies based on OpenAI's own 'good faith' judgment, without you necessarily being informed that this has occurred.

How other platforms handle this

MetaMask Medium

We may share your personal information with our affiliates, meaning entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common control with Consensys. We also share information with service providers who assist in operating our services, subject to confidentiality obligations.

Ledger Medium

At Ledger, earning and maintaining our users' trust is a top priority. That's why we are deeply committed not only to protecting your privacy and securing your personal data, but also to being fully transparent about how we handle it.

Target Medium

Loyalty and partner program companies. We share information with our loyalty and partner program companies, like Ulta Beauty and Marriott.

See all platforms with this clause type →

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
We may share your personal information with law enforcement, government authorities, or private parties if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to: comply with applicable law or legal process; protect the rights, property, or safety of us, our users, or others; detect, prevent, or address fraud, security, or technical issues.

— Excerpt from OpenAI's OpenAI Privacy Policy

ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance intelligence)

(1) REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: GDPR Art. 6(1)(c) (legal obligation) and Art. 6(1)(f) (legitimate interests) can provide lawful basis for law enforcement disclosures, but GDPR Art. 23 limits permissible restrictions of rights. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), 18 U.S.C. §§2510-2523, and the Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. §2701) govern US government access to communications data. FISA §702 and the CLOUD Act (2018) enable US government access to data held by US companies globally, with implications for non-US users. (2)

Full compliance analysis

Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    Deceptive or unfair disclosures of personal data to government or private parties without adequate user notice falls under FTC Act Section 5.
    File a complaint →
  • State AG
    State attorneys general have jurisdiction over state-law privacy violations arising from law enforcement data disclosures, particularly in states with strong electronic privacy laws.
    File a complaint →

Applicable regulations

BIPA
Illinois, USA
CCPA/CPRA
California, USA
Connecticut Data Privacy Act Amendments
US-CT
CAN-SPAM
United States Federal
FTC Act Section 5
United States Federal
GDPR
European Union
Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act
US-IN
Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act
US-KY
UK GDPR
United Kingdom
Universal Opt-Out Mechanism Expansion 2026
US

Provision details

Document information
Document
OpenAI Privacy Policy
Entity
OpenAI
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 6, 2026
Last verified
April 10, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-002671
Document ID
CA-D-00010
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
90ad72975ac0d9d86d724561a29d464c061ec09345abf2fde0eccd43d6205bcf
Analysis generated
March 6, 2026 20:23 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: OpenAI
Document: OpenAI Privacy Policy
Record ID: CA-P-002671
Captured: 2026-03-06 20:23:45 UTC
SHA-256: 90ad72975ac0d9d8…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/openai/openai-privacy-policy/data-sharing-with-law-enforcement-and-government-authorities/
Accessed: June 18, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
High
Categories

Other risks in this policy

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does OpenAI's Data Sharing with Law Enforcement and Government Authorities clause do?

This clause establishes the conditions and parties to whom OpenAI may transfer user personal information outside normal service operations. The provision grounds disclosure authority in legal compliance, safety protection, and fraud prevention, creating a defined pathway for information sharing with government and law enforcement entities.

How does this clause affect you?

Your ChatGPT conversations and personal data can be shared with law enforcement or government agencies based on OpenAI's own 'good faith' judgment, without you necessarily being informed that this has occurred.

How many platforms have this type of clause?

ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 1 platforms. See the full comparison.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with OpenAI?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by OpenAI.