Records and answers sought
The petition targets a Sept. 28 production order from British Columbia Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey, according to Business in Vancouver. Beyond requiring documents, the order compels an OpenAI representative to answer questions. The company calls it "sweeping," "overbroad" and "unnecessary."
According to the petition, as reported by CBC News, the requested records include all of shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar's ChatGPT conversations and all company records concerning its decision not to refer her account to law enforcement. OpenAI says it has already supplied the chat logs to police and the province.
OpenAI says it found two ChatGPT accounts associated with Van Rootselaar. It banned one in June 2025 because violent content violated its usage policies, but did not notify police. The petition says the commissioner also wants to know why the flags that prompted the ban were not immediately passed to law enforcement and whether users are told about flags and bans.
How the privacy investigation developed
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia says it initially sought information in February, after media reports connected ChatGPT to the killings that month. Its request covered OpenAI's policies and practices, along with its applications' interactions with Van Rootselaar.
The office says OpenAI did not comply. It opened an investigation in June, then issued the September order to compel the company to provide the information.
The inquiry concerns how personal information is used in ChatGPT responses, including details from uploaded content or interactions with other users. The office says it is examining whether those uses are appropriate in the circumstances, "including the potential for responses to influence behaviour."
The California-based company did not immediately respond to The Canadian Press's request for comment.
OpenAI disputes the regulator's authority and rationale
In its petition, OpenAI says the privacy office "has offered no coherent rationale for the investigation" and "has identified no reasonable grounds to believe OpenAI breached" B.C.'s Personal Information Protection Act in connection with the shooting.
The company also challenges the reach of the inquiry, arguing that "a tragedy, however grave, cannot give a privacy regulator expertise over online safety, nor does it expand the OIPC's powers beyond their statutory and constitutional limits."
OpenAI separately argues that Canadian privacy regulators, including the B.C. office, already addressed the issues in a three-year joint investigation. That investigation ended in May 2026 with findings that OpenAI lacked accountability and had not followed Canadian law, CBC News reported.
The company maintains that commitments it made following the national investigation would bring it into compliance with B.C.'s Personal Information Protection Act. On that basis, it argues it should not face a "duplicative second investigation."
The attack and other legal action
Van Rootselaar, 18, killed eight people on Feb. 10, 2026: two relatives at home, followed by five children and an educational assistant at the local secondary school. She then fatally shot herself. More than two dozen other people were injured, some seriously.
The provincial government has said it is pursuing legal options against OpenAI. Several victims and their families have also filed lawsuits against the company.
