OpenAI faces class-action lawsuit over undisclosed ChatGPT data sharing with Google and Meta
A federal class-action lawsuit alleges OpenAI transferred millions of user conversations to Google and Meta for advertising and analytics without explicit consent or adequate disclosure.
OpenAI faces a federal class-action lawsuit alleging the company shared ChatGPT user data with Google and Meta without explicit consent. The complaint claims millions of user conversations—including medical questions, financial details, and personal identifiers—were transferred to third parties for advertising optimization and user profiling, despite users' reasonable expectation that their chats remained private.
The lawsuit centers on whether OpenAI's privacy disclosures met federal standards. Plaintiffs argue that ChatGPT's terms of service did not clearly state that user inputs could be shared with external tech companies, and that no meaningful opt-out mechanism existed.
What stands out
- 01Undisclosed third-party transfers — OpenAI allegedly shared conversation logs with Google and Meta for advertising and analytics without clear user notification.
- 02Inadequate privacy policy — The complaint claims OpenAI's privacy disclosures failed to adequately inform users that their data would be shared with external platforms.
- 03Sensitive data exposure — Users shared medical, financial, and personal information in ChatGPT sessions, all potentially accessible to third parties.
- 04No opt-out option — Plaintiffs argue users were not given a clear, accessible way to prevent data sharing with Google or Meta.
- 05Broad class scope — The lawsuit seeks to represent all U.S. ChatGPT users during the alleged data-sharing period, potentially covering tens of millions of accounts.