A California user named Amargo Couture has filed a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI Global, LLC, alleging that ChatGPT.com transmits the topics of user queries and identifying information to Meta and Google through Meta Pixel and Google Analytics. The complaint states that these transmissions occur without users' knowledge or consent, potentially violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and other California privacy laws.
The core of the lawsuit is web tracking code. The main dispute revolves around what users ask, how the page title changes, and whether Meta and Google can match that data to real user accounts via cookies. As an example, the complaint says that when a user asks ChatGPT "Who won the 2005 Super Bowl?", the page title changes to "Super Bowl 2005 Winner", and then that title is sent along with tracking requests from Meta Pixel and Google Analytics.
The lawsuit further claims that Meta may receive the page title and a Facebook identifying cookie, while Google may receive the page title, a hashed email, and account-related cookies. The plaintiff argues that this information is enough for third parties to link ChatGPT query topics to specific users. The case is currently in the pleading stage, and the court has not yet made factual findings.