Is Character.AI safe with your data?

Character.AI

Character Technologies

41/100

Weak disclosure · high confidence

Character.AI earns a D (41/100) because it leaves much about its data practices unstated.

Dealbreaker flag

D1.4: you grant Character.AI, to the fullest extent permitted under the law, a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid up, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license

#146

of 211 apps ranked

score · Companion avg 34

vs category average

Grade scaleA · 70–100B · 60–69C · 48–59D · 35–47F · 0–34

Character.AI trains on user inputs and public data without disclosed opt-out, grants itself perpetual sublicensable rights to user content, allows data requests but retention is vague, and provides minimal security/breach disclosure.

What Character.AI's privacy policy and terms of service say about your data

Training with no opt-out

User inputs and publicly available data are used for model development with no opt-out mechanism disclosed

Perpetual content licence

Grants Character.AI a 'perpetual, irrevocable' sublicensable licence to your content for 'any Character.AI-related purpose,' allowing broad reuse beyond running the service

Thin security disclosure

The policy names no security controls such as encryption and gives no breach notification timeframe

What the policy is silent or vague on

Not stated: keeping user inputs out of model training
Not stated: a way to opt out of training
Not stated: whether training use differs by plan
Not stated: your ownership of generated outputs

Character.AI privacy rating

Training-data use0 of 4 disclosed

Keeps user inputs out of model training, or makes training opt-inSilent

Names a way to opt out of or into trainingSilent

Says whether training use differs by plan or tierSilent

Lets the user keep ownership of generated outputsAdverse

Data-subject rights4 of 5 disclosed

Grants a right to access your dataDisclosed

Grants a right to delete your dataPartial

Offers data portability in a usable formatDisclosed

Grants a right to correct your dataDisclosed

Grants a way to object to or opt out of processingDisclosed

Retention and deletion0 of 4 disclosed

States a retention period for your dataPartial

States a deletion timeline after closure or requestSilent

Sets a shorter retention for AI conversation logsSilent

Commits to collecting only the data it needsSilent

Third-party sharing1 of 5 disclosed

Lists the categories of third parties it shares withDisclosed

References a sub-processor list or data processing agreementSilent

Does not sell or share data for advertising, or offers opt-outPartial

Names a safeguard for international data transfersSilent

States a standard for government and law-enforcement accessPartial

Transparency2 of 4 disclosed

Discloses that you are interacting with AISilent

Marks AI-generated or synthetic outputNot applicable

Enumerates the categories of data it collectsDisclosed

Maps processing purposes to legal basesPartial

Is versioned and dated, with change noticeDisclosed

Sensitive data and children1 of 2 disclosed

Discloses automated decisions and a human-review pathNot applicable

Limits the use of special-category dataPartial

Governs biometric data specificallyNot applicable

States protections for children's dataDisclosed

Security and accountability0 of 3 disclosed

Describes its security safeguardsSilent

Commits to breach notificationSilent

Names a certification or a privacy contactPartial

DisclosedPartialSilentAdverseNot applicable

Details

Category: Companion
Modalities: text
Processes biometrics: No
Policy last updated: 2025-08-27
Region scored: Global / US-default
Last assessed: 2026-07-08

Documents examined

Other companion apps

Each grade reflects our analysis of what an app states in its public privacy policy and terms as of the assessment date. It measures the transparency of those documents, not the company's actual data practices, security, or compliance. Grades are our opinion, offered for general information. Full disclaimer.