Your private chats exposed? Here's how conversations get leaked and how to stay safe online

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): In this era of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the use of the chatbot "ChatGPT" is rapidly increasing. People share everything from their office work to their most personal conversations with this AI tool. However, a shocking incident that surfaced last year shocked users, in which many people's private conversations with ChatGPT were found publicly available on the internet. Since then, users have been wondering whether their conversations on ChatGPT can truly be leaked online or appear directly in Google searches?

Does your private chat really become public?

According to technical experts, your conversations on ChatGPT are generally completely private by default. This simply means that your chats are not indexed by Google or any other search engine, nor can they be seen by other users. Search engines like Google only display webpages that are publicly available on the Internet. ChatGPT's normal conversations are not public webpages, so they are not at risk of being leaked.

These small mistakes can make your conversation reach the internet

However, in certain cases, your ChatGPT conversations can be exposed online, often due to user mistakes. ChatGPT has a chat sharing feature. If a user creates a "share link" of their conversation and sends it to others, anyone with the link can easily read it. Additionally, people often copy their interesting or relevant conversations and post them on social media, blogs, websites, or forums. Some users even take screenshots of their conversations and post them on social media, making the information public. Furthermore, if you're using ChatGPT through a third-party app, tool, or unknown browser extension, those tools can secretly store your data, potentially exposing your chats.

What does OpenAI do with your chats?

According to the privacy policy of OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, some of your user conversations may be used to improve the quality of the AI ​​system and enhance security standards. This does not mean that the company makes your chats public on the internet. However, it has been observed that some humans (human reviewers) also read these chats for quality control and AI training. Therefore, the possibility of privacy leaks cannot be completely ruled out.

Simple ways to protect your private conversations

If you want your conversations with ChatGPT to remain completely secure, it's crucial to take certain precautions in the digital world. First, always avoid sharing links to any of your chats. Never share personal information like passwords, bank account details, or government ID numbers while chatting with ChatGPT. Avoid using any unknown browser extensions or unverified AI tools, and think twice before uploading any sensitive or confidential documents to ChatGPT.