AI servicesOpenAI and the GDPR: agreement, role and data location.
OpenAI is a ai services tool. Most customers use it as a processor, it publishes its data processing agreement, and the data location depends on your account. Below: what to check and how to declare it.
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In short
- Category
- AI services
- Usual role
- Usually a processor
- Data location
- Often the United States, check your account
- Agreement
- Published by the vendor
What does OpenAI do with personal data?
Support business activities or client services with AI capabilities through the OpenAI API. Confirm the actual product and account used. That is how Privacyboard describes a typical use of OpenAI, as a starting point you can edit.
The data usually involved: prompts, uploaded content, outputs and any personal data included in API requests.
Is OpenAI a processor or a controller?
Most customers use OpenAI as a processor: it handles personal data on their instructions, for the purposes they set. That is the common reading for ai services tools and it is what Privacyboard suggests.
As a processor, it needs a written agreement with you under Article 28, and you should know which subprocessors it uses. Confirm the role against your own agreement, because the way you use a tool can change it.
Where does OpenAI store personal data?
OpenAI is usually associated with the United States, but the location can depend on your plan or settings. Privacyboard prefills it as a starting point that you should check in your account.
How to find yours: OpenAI project settings show the data residency option if one is configured.
If the data is processed outside the European Economic Area, Articles 44 to 49 require a transfer mechanism, such as standard contractual clauses, an adequacy decision or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Your privacy policy should name it.
Does OpenAI have a data processing agreement?
Checked on 1 November 2026. Vendors change their pages, so check the date.
Yes. OpenAI publishes the text of its data processing agreement on its own website. Article 28 of the GDPR requires a written contract with every processor, so this is the document to read and keep.
What we noted when we opened the page: Dated Feb 2024; the page links no newer version. Other OpenAI DPAs exist (advertising, supplier).
A page that exists does not mean you are covered. Whether the agreement applies to you depends on your plan and on what you accepted, so record the decision yourself in your vendor list.
Read the OpenAI agreementHow to declare OpenAI
- 1
In your privacy policy
Name OpenAI as a recipient, say what it is used for (support business activities or client services with AI capabilities through the OpenAI API. Confirm the actual product and account used) and mention any transfer outside the EEA. Articles 13 and 14 ask you to tell people who receives their data.
- 2
In your vendor list
Add OpenAI with its purpose, the data involved, its role, its region and a link to the agreement. Privacyboard prefills all of this, you confirm or correct it.
- 3
In your processing register
Link OpenAI to the activities that use it, so each record shows its recipients. Article 30 asks the register to list the categories of recipients.
What to check before relying on OpenAI
- Decide what personal data may be sent in prompts, and block the rest.
- Check whether inputs are retained or used for training under your plan.
- Record the provider and the purpose in your privacy policy.
- Check for automated decisions about people, which carry extra duties under Article 22.
Questions, answered.
Is OpenAI GDPR compliant?
Privacyboard does not certify vendors. Compliance depends on how OpenAI is configured and used, on the agreement you have with it and on your own practices. What can be checked is documented here: it publishes a data processing agreement, the usual role and the data location. Read the agreement itself before relying on it.
Does OpenAI have a DPA?
Yes. OpenAI publishes the text of its data processing agreement on its own website. Article 28 of the GDPR requires a written contract with every processor, so this is the document to read and keep. You can read it at https://openai.com/policies/feb-2024-data-processing-addendum/.
Is OpenAI a data processor?
Usually, yes. Most customers use OpenAI as a processor that acts on their instructions. Check your own agreement and how you use the tool, because the role can differ.
Where does OpenAI store data?
OpenAI is usually associated with the United States, but the location can depend on your plan or settings. Privacyboard prefills it as a starting point that you should check in your account. How to find yours: OpenAI project settings show the data residency option if one is configured.
Do I need to mention OpenAI in my privacy policy?
Yes, if OpenAI handles personal data for you. The GDPR asks you to tell people who receives their data (Articles 13 and 14). Name the vendor or its category, say what it is used for and mention any transfer outside the EEA.
How do I add OpenAI to my vendor list?
In Privacyboard, pick OpenAI from the catalog. The purpose, the data, the suggested role and a link to its agreement are prefilled, and you confirm each one. Creating a workspace is free.
Privacyboard is not affiliated with OpenAI. Names and logos belong to their owners and are used only to identify the tool. This page summarises public documents as checked on 1 November 2026; it is guidance, not legal advice, and it does not certify any vendor.