ChatGPT privacy: How to hide chat history

❘ Published: 2023-06-05T12:00:14

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ChatGPT privacy- ChatGPT logo on a abstract secure technology background

ChatGPT privacy is an increasingly important concern for those using OpenAI’s popular chat app. But, its creators are bringing new features to the table to protect users.

ChatGPT was released in July 2020 and has since democratized Artificial Intelligence and its use cases. Billions have used ChatGPT to create content, write codes, and much more.

While almost everyone knows that ChatGPT has been trained on a vast amount of data from the internet, however, only a few know that ChatGPT also knows a lot about you. Unless you opt-out, your chat history will be used to train ChatGPT in the future, which could contain personally identifiable data.

This has forced various governments and organizations to keep an eye on AI development, and some countries have even banned ChatGPT. In response, OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has announced multiple measures that give you better control of your data and allows you to choose which conversations can be used to train its models.

Can hackers use ChatGPT?

Despite being a useful product, ChatGPT is vulnerable to misuse. While OpenAI has ensured that users cannot create bots or ask the ChatGPT to code malware, cybercriminals tend to find a workaround.

Firstly, it is possible to abuse this valuable tool by tweaking your prompts to make the tool give unintended responses via “jailbreaking”.

Reports suggest that hackers have already used ChatGPT to create a multi-layered encryption tool that could be used to carry out ransomware attacks.

Similarly, ChatGPT can create sites that look awfully similar to your bank’s website, which could be used in phishing attacks. ChatGPT can also create multiple natural-sounding text alerts that can be used in phishing attacks. This sophisticated technology can make it difficult for the ordinary person to distinguish between formal communication from a bank or hackers, making them easy prey to such attacks.

Tech giant Samsung recently banned its employees from using ChatGPT after it found that its engineering team members leaked internal source code on ChatGPT.

How to hide your chat history from ChatGPT

OpenAI has recently revealed that it is taking various privacy measures in ChatGPT to stop it from being abused. It now allows users to hide their chats from being used to train ChatGPT’s models.

Once opted in, ChatGPT will automatically delete all unsaved chats from its servers within 30 days, saving your conversations from being available on the public domain in any form. You must follow a simple guide to hide your chats from ChatGPT.

Log in to your ChatGPT account
Click on the three dots menu on the bottom left, next to your name/email address
Click settings on the pop-up menu
Click Data Control in the new window
Turn on or off the Chat History & Training using the toggle

OpenAI allows users to export their chats by clicking Export under Data Controls to improve user data protection. This lets you monitor conversation history for improved transparency.

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