ChatGPT blew in popularity in the last few months. However, there are many people warning about the AI model security and privacy issues. So, does ChatGPT save data? In this post, you’ll find out all you need to know to use ChatGPT safely.
What Kind of Data Does ChatGPT Save?
Does ChatGPT save data? The short answer is yes.
In the company’s privacy policy, you can read what kind of data ChatGPT saves and for what purposes. In short, this is the data collected by the bot:
- The account information you provide to create your account.
- Your browser’s data (like its IP and location).
- The information you enter into the chatbot itself.
Collecting both your account information and your browser’s data is a very standard practice of almost every website on the internet. However, the privacy danger here lies in the information you input into the chatbot itself.
ChatGPT says they collect the data to improve their models and train the AI. This is by no means a surprise, but it’s a good thing to keep in mind when using the bot. Make sure you don’t enter any personal or sensitive information you don’t want to share with strangers.
Indeed, your personal information is shared with a surprising number of people and entities according to ChatGPT’s privacy policy. Indeed, they state they share your data with vendors, service providers, affiliates, legal entities, and AI trainers. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, isn’t very explicit about who all these people are.
And it’s really easy to enter sensitive data by mistake! For example, if you’re proofreading personal or professional documents, you may leak private information by mistake. This is what happened with three Samsung employees, who leaked sensitive data to ChatGPT. They asked the chatbot to generate notes from a recorded meeting, check database source code for errors, and ask for code optimization. This caused Samsung’s sensitive information to be leaked.
So make sure you think twice before hitting enter to submit a query to ChatGPT. Especially if you’re managing information that contains other people’s data or are concerned about your privacy.
Can You Manage Your Data in ChatGPT?
ChatGPT has recently released new ways to manage your data when using the bot. Indeed, you can now go to your account’s settings and turn off chat history.
To do this, click on your account name at the bottom left corner of the app, and select ‘Settings’. Then, click on ‘Data Controls‘ and disable the ‘Chat History & Training‘ toggle.
This way, your conversations won’t be saved in the sidebar and won’t be used to train the AI. However, ChatGPT says they will nonetheless keep the information you enter into the chatbot for 30 days and review it “only when needed to monitor for abuse”.
In short, your conversations with ChatGPT will still be stored. However, this new feature may mean you can have an extra layer of privacy.
Additionally, OpenAI announced it will be launching a ChatGPT business subscription. This will enable both professionals and enterprises who need more control over their data to avoid the information they enter into the bot being used to train ChatGPT’s models by default. ChatGPT Business will be launched in the following months and will follow the company’s API data usage policies.
Lastly, your ChatGPT account’s settings now also have an export option. This allows you to receive via mail all your ChatGPT data. You can use this feature to better understand what information the company stores.
Conclusion
So, does ChatGPT save data? Yes. OpenAI saves all the queries you input into ChatGPT.
Even with their new most recent feature, which allows you to turn off chat history, ChatGPT saves your information for 30 days before permanently deleting it.
So, be aware of this when using ChatGPT. Don’t input any sensitive, confidential, or personal information you aren’t comfortable sharing with other people.
This isn’t a reason to stop using ChatGPT altogether. However, take the necessary steps to protect yourself by removing any private information from your prompts before you hit enter.
