OpenAI forgot to secure ChatGPT conversations on macOS

The macOS version of ChatGPT did not apply encryption to chat conversations, so they were kept open and exposed on your computer.

OpenAI released a desktop version of ChatGPT for macOS in late June. This version of the chatbot can be accessed without having to open a browser. Behind the scenes, ChatGPT forgot something important. The chat conversations were stored without any form of encryption.

I forgot the encryption

Since ChatGPT runs locally on your computer, your chat history will also be saved on your computer. Pedro Jose Pereira Vietto discovered that OpenAI had forgotten its chat history in sandbox mode, and shared his discovery ThreadsThis means that your chat history is stored unencrypted and in clear text on your computer.

This makes your conversations easily accessible to those who have physical access to your device. A clever hacker could also design an app that makes its way into your chat history. Pereira Vieto developed an app as a demo ChatGPTstealer And showed the edge How can such an app get rid of chat history.

OpenAI has now fixed the bug with an updated macOS app. Install it as soon as possible if you want to ensure that your conversations with ChatGPT remain private. The native version of ChatGPT should address concerns about privacy and sensitive data sharing. Users should opt out of not having their data used to train GPT models.