What Information Does ChatGPT Store?
ChatGPTs privacy policytells us almost everything we need to know about its data retention habits.
It gathers its information from three sources:
Most of the data that it keeps isnt particularly alarming.
The real risk is that it collects data from your conversations with ChatGPT.
When youre using the AI, its extremely easy to feed it your private information by mistake.
It only keeps the latter if you sign up for a premium account.
ChatGPT also retrieves your devices name and operating system.
OpenAIuses cookies to track your browsing activityboth in the chat window and on its site.
It claims to use this information for analytics and to find out exactly how you interact with ChatGPT.
Information That You Put Into the Chat
ChatGPT records and stores transcripts of your conversations.
This means any information you put into the chat, including personal information, is logged.
Does ChatGPT Record Your Conversations?
Yes, ChatGPT records everything you jot down into it.
That makesChatGPT a cybersecurity risk too.
So, your personal data is not only compromised, but used for the advantage of OpenAI.
After 30 days, the conversations are deleted permanently.
Conversations are only reviewed when they need to be monitored for abuse and inappropriate behavior.
Who Can See My ChatGPT Data?
Your personal information is available to a surprising number of people and entities.
Other parts are more straightforward.
OpenAI claims it may disclose your information to companies with which it is affiliated too.
And finally, OpenAIs training staff will review your conversations and use them to improve the AI.
They also ensure that what youre saying in your chats complies with the companys policies.
If you enter personal information into the chatbot, the trainers can see it.
Will Regulatory Pressure Force OpenAI to Take Privacy More Seriously?
In May 2023,Italy banned ChatGPTfor allegedly violating the GDPR.
And in July 2023, news broke that the United States was investigating OpenAI as well.
ChatGPT: Friend or Foe?
ChatGPT and OpenAI collect a lot of information about you.
Some of the data it collects, like your account details and machine information, is pretty normal.
Most sites do this.
However, it also collects any personal information you enter into the chatbot.
This is a real privacy risk.
To make things worse, it makes this information available to its AI trainers.
You dont need to give up using ChatGPT entirely, but you must take steps to protect yourself.
Most importantly, you gotta remove any private information from your prompts before you hit submit.
