Urgent security warning over ChatGPT iPhone app

Technology experts are warning iPhone users over a ChatGPT app which poses a security risk to users.

The artificial intelligence that is ChatGPT has soared in popularity in recent months, and the masterminds behind the technology, OpenAI, have launched the technology in a new iPhone app.

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Since its release, it has become one of the most popular free apps on the App Store.

However, computing staff writer at Techradar, Muskaan Saxena, says sharing too many personal details with the mobile-friendly bot could put your privacy at risk.

The free iOS app does, however, come with a warning about sharing personal information because “anonymised chats may be reviewed by our AI trainer to improve our systems”.

But many users may not be aware of all the security risks.

According to OpenAI’s privacy policy when you use their services, they “may collect personal information that is included in the input, file uploads, or feedback you provide”.

“This basically means that if you ask ChatGPT questions that contain any personal information (read: facts about you which you’d rather not share to a living soul) it’ll be sent to OpenAI and could be read by a human reviewer. And that’s a big deal,” Saxena said.

“The company says conversations are anonymised before they’re seen by humans, but that only removes identifying information from the metadata of the file, not the actual content of your prompt.

“So, if you use ChatGPT for things such as help with your anger issues, as a safe space to vent, to seek advice or to edit and enhance personal documents and texts, these are all being sent — and possibly viewed by — humans at OpenAI.”

This means users have no clue whether OpenAI is reading your conversations, and there is no option to opt out.

Of course, it’s not possible for the company to monitor every single conversation with every user, but it is something experts recommend keeping in mind.

“Artificial Intelligence is still an emerging Technology and should be treated with caution until we’ve all become more adjusted and familiar with having these chatbots in our lives,” Saxena said.