OpenAI docs clarify limits of zero data retention and privacy promises

The analysis highlights five key exceptions where data may still be retained even with ZDR enabled. These include unsupported features like Assistants and Vector Stores, which are kept indefinitely unless manually deleted. Images and files are scanned by a classifier, and any suspected child sexual abuse material is retained for human review regardless of ZDR settings. Additionally, data sent to external tools via the Model Context Protocol follows the third-party's retention policies, and prompt caching stores encrypted data in GPU memory for 24 hours.

Separately, Private Safety Processing (PSP) stores safety review records in customer-controlled storage for 30 days using double encryption. The author notes that while OpenAI states employees cannot view these specific PSP records, this design is separate from the general ZDR policy. The article advises enterprise users to verify these specific conditions in writing before inputting confidential data, as the documentation contains omissions and conditional clauses that limit the scope of privacy guarantees.