OpenAI · OpenAI Privacy Policy

Use of Content for AI Model Training

High severity
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What it is

OpenAI can use what you type into ChatGPT — your questions, prompts, and conversations — to train and improve its AI models, unless you go into your settings and turn this off.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

By default, your conversation content — including any sensitive information you type — may be used to train OpenAI's AI models; this is an opt-out rather than opt-in arrangement, meaning most users are enrolled without affirmative consent.

What you can do

⚠️ These actions may provide transparency or partial mitigation but may not fully address the underlying issue. Effectiveness varies by jurisdiction and individual circumstances.
  • Opt Out of Arbitration
    Log into ChatGPT, click your profile icon, go to Settings, select Data Controls, and toggle off 'Improve the model for everyone' to stop your conversations being used for training.

How other platforms handle this

Dropbox Medium

Dropbox uses certain trusted third parties (for example, providers of customer support and IT services) for the business purposes of helping us provide, improve, protect, and promote our Services. These third parties will access your information to perform tasks on our behalf, and we'll remain respo...

Twilio Medium

As a global platform, we move data across borders to ensure seamless connectivity, Service provision and business operations. While our primary processing facilities are in the U.S., we use regulator-approved frameworks to ensure personal data receives the same high level of protection everywhere it...

Character.AI Medium

We may disclose certain information, in connection with or during negotiations or closing of any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.

See all platforms with this clause type →
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Why it matters (compliance & risk perspective)

If you share sensitive personal, medical, financial, or professional information in a ChatGPT conversation, that content may become part of OpenAI's training data, potentially influencing future AI outputs in ways that are difficult to fully audit or reverse.

View original clause language
We may use Content you provide us to train our models, for example to improve ChatGPT's ability to respond to requests. We take steps to reduce the chance that the training process will cause models to reproduce your personal information. Depending on your settings, we may also use your Content to improve our Services; you can opt-out of this in your account settings.

Institutional analysis (Compliance & legal intelligence)

(1) REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision implicates GDPR Art. 6(1)(f) (legitimate interests as lawful basis for processing), Art. 9 (prohibition on processing special category data without explicit consent), and Art. 22 (automated decision-making). Under CCPA/CPRA §1798.120, use of personal information to train AI models may constitute a 'use' that triggers opt-out rights. The FTC Act Section 5 applies if the training use is insufficiently disclosed. The EU AI Act Articles 53 and 53a impose transparency obligations on GPAI model providers regarding training data sourcing. (2)

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has jurisdiction over unfair or deceptive data practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act, including insufficient disclosure of AI model training use of consumer data.
    File a complaint →

Applicable regulations

BIPA
Illinois, USA
CCPA/CPRA
California, USA
COPPA
United States Federal
CAN-SPAM
United States Federal
DMA
European Union
FCRA
United States Federal
GDPR
European Union
GLBA
United States Federal
HIPAA
United States Federal
UK GDPR
United Kingdom

Provision details

Document information
Document
OpenAI Privacy Policy
Entity
OpenAI
Document last updated
March 24, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 6, 2026
Last verified
April 10, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-002666
Document ID
CA-D-00010
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
90ad72975ac0d9d86d724561a29d464c061ec09345abf2fde0eccd43d6205bcf
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: OpenAI | Document: OpenAI Privacy Policy | Record: CA-P-002666
Captured: 2026-03-06 20:23:45 UTC | SHA-256: 90ad72975ac0d9d8…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/openai/openai-privacy-policy/use-of-content-for-ai-model-training/
Accessed: April 29, 2026
Classification
Severity
High
Categories

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