Can you put customer data into ChatGPT in South Africa?

Can you put customer data into ChatGPT? For a personal Free, Go or Plus account, the answer is generally no. But there are safe, defensible ways to use ChatGPT on the same work, and most of them cost less effort than people expect. Here is the plain version of what POPIA requires and how each ChatGPT plan treats your data.

Why putting customer data into ChatGPT is a POPIA question

There are two separate issues, and both apply the moment you paste customer data in.

First, typing customer information into ChatGPT is processing under POPIA (the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013). Section 1 defines processing as any operation on personal information, including using and transmitting it. So the Act’s conditions apply: a lawful reason, a clear purpose, only the data you need and reasonable security.

Second, the information leaves South Africa. OpenAI processes data outside the country, and its pricing page lists data residency options in regions such as the US, EU, UK, India and Australia, but not South Africa. Section 72 allows personal information to leave South Africa only if one of these applies:

• the recipient is bound by a law, binding corporate rules or an agreement that gives adequate protection, substantially similar to POPIA;
• the person consents;
• the transfer is necessary for a contract with the person, or in their interest; or
• it is for their benefit and consent is not reasonably practicable.

A personal ChatGPT account used for client work usually has none of these in place.

What happens to what you type

OpenAI’s pricing page says content on its consumer plans is used to train its models, with an opt-out available. A temporary chat is not used to improve OpenAI’s models while it stays temporary, but OpenAI says a copy may be kept for up to 30 days for safety purposes. Either way, the customer detail you pasted now sits with a vendor under consumer terms, which is hard to square with section 19’s duty to secure personal information with appropriate, reasonable measures.

How each ChatGPT plan treats your data

For the difference between the personal plans, see ChatGPT free vs paid in South Africa.

The three safe ways to use ChatGPT with customer work

A hypothetical example: a Durban accounting firm wants ChatGPT to spot unusual expenses in a client’s ledger. It could replace names and account numbers with neutral labels, keep the key on its own server, and paste only the amounts, dates and categories. The question still gets answered, and no one outside the firm can tell whose ledger it is.

Removing details is harder than it looks, because combinations like birth date plus suburb can identify someone. The step-by-step method is in how to anonymise data before using AI.

What counts as personal information

If you are not sure, assume it is. POPIA’s definition covers information about an identifiable, living person, and where applicable an existing company, including identity numbers, email and physical addresses, phone numbers, location data, online identifiers, biometric information, financial, medical and employment history, and private correspondence.

Section 26 adds a higher-risk tier, special personal information: religious or philosophical beliefs, race or ethnic origin, trade union membership, political persuasion, health or sex life, biometric information and criminal behaviour. Health records in particular should not go near a consumer AI tool.

Who is responsible if it leaks

You are the responsible party, the one who decides why and how the information is processed, and that does not pass to OpenAI. When a vendor processes personal information for you, section 21 requires a written contract that makes it maintain proper security. That is what the data processing agreement is for, and why it matters that personal plans do not have one.

If a breach happens, section 22 requires you to notify the Information Regulator and the people affected as soon as reasonably possible; since 1 April 2025 the Regulator expects notifications through its eServices Portal. The Regulator can impose administrative fines of up to R10 million, and failing to comply with an enforcement notice is an offence that can carry up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

For a wider view of which tools suit customer work, see POPIA-compliant AI tools, and for tax work specifically, using AI with SARS and tax data. For practical ways to use ChatGPT in a business without these risks, see how to use ChatGPT for business.

This is general information, not legal advice. For a high-risk or consequential processing decision, confirm with a POPIA practitioner.