OpenAI challenged a production order issued by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC) for documents requested as part of an OIPC active investigation related to the use of personal information by OpenAI in context of the Tumber Ridge shooting. Due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter of this investigation, the OIPC is limiting information disclosed publicly to what is strictly necessary. 

The OIPC is providing key information about the investigation to the general public, now that it is in the public domain.

 Under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), the OIPC has jurisdiction over organizations that collect, use and disclose the personal information of people living in British Columbia. To collect, use or disclose information about a person in British Columbia, an organization must have legal authorization.

 The OIPC became concerned about media reporting on the connection between OpenAI’s product ChatGPT and the event that occurred in Tumbler Ridge. In this investigation, the OIPC is focused on whether the use of personal information (including as contained in and derived from prompts, uploaded content, usage data, interactions with other users) in the delivery of the service (i.e. ChatGPT responses) is one that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances, including the potential for responses to influence behaviour.

 To allow the OIPC to determine whether a violation of BC’s PIPA had occurred, OpenAI was originally asked in February to provide information about its policies, practices, and the specific interactions that its applications had with the user. OpenAI did not provide the OIPC with this information voluntarily, and the OIPC launched an investigation in June. OpenAI then indicated that, consistent with its privacy commitments to its users, it could only release that information pursuant to a legal proceeding, and the OIPC issued an order in September compelling production of that information using authorities under PIPA. OpenAI has now petitioned the BC Supreme Court for Judicial Review of the Order and to challenge the investigation.

 As the matter of OpenAI’s judicial review of our order is before the courts and it is an active investigation, the OIPC will not be providing further information.