Open AI says this data is used to train the AI model and improve its responses, but the terms allow the company to share your personal information with affiliates, vendors, service providers, and law enforcement. “So it’s hard to know where your data will end up,” Love says.
OpenAI’s privacy policy states that ChatGPT collects information to create an account or communicate with a company, says Bharath Thota, a data scientist and director of analytics practice solutions at management consulting firm Kearney, which advises companies on managing and using AI data to drive new revenue streams.
Some of this data collection includes full names, account credentials, payment card information and transaction history, it says. “Personal information may also be stored, particularly if images are uploaded as part of ads. Similarly, if a user chooses to connect with one of the company’s social media pages, such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram, personal information may be collected if they have shared their contact details.”
OpenAI uses consumer data Like other big tech and social media companies, it doesn’t sell advertising but instead provides tools — an important difference, says Jeff Schwartzentruber, a senior machine learning scientist at security firm eSentire. “User input data is not used directly as a commodity, but rather to improve services that benefit the user, but also increase the value of OpenAI’s intellectual property.”
Privacy Controls
Since its launch in 2020 and amid criticism and privacy scandals, OpenAI has introduced tools and controls you can use to lock down your data. OpenAI says it is “committed to protecting people’s privacy.”
In the specific case of ChatGPT, OpenAI says it understands that users may not want their information used to improve its models, and therefore provides them with ways to do so. manage your dataChatGPT Free and Plus users can easily control whether they contribute to future model improvements in your settings“,” the company writes on its website, adding that it does not provide training on API, ChatGPT Enterprise and ChatGPT Team. customer data default.
“We offer ChatGPT users a number of privacy controls, including an easy way to opt out of training our AI models and a temporary chat mode that automatically deletes chats on a regular basis,” OpenAI spokesperson Taya Christianson tells WIRED.
The company says it does not seek personal information to train its models and does not use publicly available information on the Internet to profile, advertise to or target people, or sell user data.
OpenAI does not train its models with audio clips of voice chats—unless you choose to share your audio “to improve voice chats for everyone,” notes the voice chat FAQ on OpenAI’s website.
“If you share your audio with us, we may use the audio from your voice chats to train our models,” Open AI says in its Voice Chat FAQ. In the meantime, transcribed chats can be used to train models depending on your choices and plan.