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WTF?! OpenAI has confirmed it is now required to retain all user data indefinitely. Anyone interacting with the company's large language models through the ChatGPT service will have their chat logs archived for potential future use, including data that would normally be deleted after 30 days. The company suggests its hands are tied, pointing to a legal order issued by a judge.
ChatGPT is now one of the world's most visited websites. Millions of people use the service daily, and OpenAI will now store nearly every user interaction in order to comply with a legal order issued by a US judge.
According to OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap, The New York Times and other publishers have made what he described as an excessive legal demand, effectively forcing an unprecedented change to ChatGPT's data retention policy. The lawsuit brought by The Times asks the court to require OpenAI to preserve all user logs in order to investigate whether the chatbot can be prompted to reproduce copyrighted articles originally published on the web.
"This fundamentally conflicts with the privacy commitments we have made to our users. It abandons long-standing privacy norms and weakens privacy protections," Lightcap stated.
OpenAI emphasized that trust and privacy are core to its products, arguing that the Times' request goes too far. While the company is appealing the court's decision, it is now retaining user conversations indefinitely – at least for the time being.
In an FAQ accompanying Lightcap's statement, OpenAI warns that the new data retention policy affects nearly all ChatGPT users – including those on the Free, Plus, and Pro plans. API users are also impacted, although ChatGPT Enterprise and ChatGPT Edu customers can configure custom data retention policies. However, organizations using OpenAI's Zero Data Retention API are reportedly unaffected, as their data is never stored on OpenAI's systems.
The court order now compels OpenAI to retain consumer ChatGPT and API content going forward. However, the company emphasizes that this data will not be automatically shared with The New York Times or any other external organization. Access is limited to a designated legal team operating under strict audit protocols, and solely for the purpose of complying with court-mandated obligations.
OpenAI also admits that it may no longer be fully compliant with Europe's GDPR. The company says it is taking "steps" to align with the EU's stringent privacy requirements, though it argues that the Times' demands run counter to those standards.
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