Chatbots seem to be a new privacy frontier, with no clear path for surviving family to control or remove data. But Mario Trujillo, staff attorney at the digital rights nonprofit the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Ars that he agreed that OpenAI could have been better prepared. “This is a complicated privacy issue but one that many platforms grappled with years ago,” Trujillo said. “So we would have expected OpenAI to have already considered it.” For Erik Soelberg, a “separate confidentiality agreement” that OpenAI said his father signed to use ChatGPT is keeping him from reviewing the full chat history that could help him process the loss of his grandmother and father. “OpenAI has provided no explanation whatsoever for why the Estate is not entitled to use the chats for any lawful purpose beyond the limited circumstances in which they were originally disclosed,” the lawsuit said. “This position is particularly egregious given that, under OpenAI’s own , OpenAI does not own user chats. Stein-Erik’s chats became property of his estate, and his estate requested them—but OpenAI has refused to turn them over.” Accusing OpenAI of a “pattern of concealment,” the lawsuit claimed OpenAI is hiding behind vague or nonexistent policies to dodge accountability for holding back chats in this case. Meanwhile, ChatGPT 4o remains on the market, without appropriate safety features or warnings, the lawsuit alleged. “By invoking confidentiality restrictions to suppress evidence of its product’s dangers, OpenAI seeks to insulate itself from accountability while continuing to deploy technology that poses documented risks to users,” the complaint said. If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal or in distress, please call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline number, 1-800-273-TALK (8255), which will put you in touch with a local crisis center.
First seen: 2025-12-15 20:59
Last seen: 2025-12-16 23:04