How to Keep Your Data Private When Using ChatGPT

What you need

• A ChatGPT account and access to the Settings menu in ChatGPT.
• About 15 minutes to read through your privacy options.
• A clear idea of what you are comfortable sharing in a chat.
• If you use ChatGPT through a work or school workspace, check with your administrator first. They may control which privacy settings you can change and how workspace data is kept.

Step by step

1. Open the Settings menu. Find Settings in ChatGPT. Your privacy controls are kept here.

2. Open the privacy center. The privacy center explains what each privacy control does. It can also take you straight to the setting you want. Opening it does not change anything by itself.

3. Go to Data Controls. Data Controls is where you manage how your conversations are handled.

4. Turn off “Improve the model for everyone.” This stops your new conversations from being used to train ChatGPT. Your new chats still appear in your chat history.

5. Start a Temporary chat when you need one. Open a new chat and click the “Temporary” button in the top-right corner of the page. Temporary chats do not appear in your chat history, do not create memories, and are not used to improve models.

6. Review your saved memories. Memory helps ChatGPT remember things such as projects you are working on. From the privacy center, open the memory settings. You can review, edit or delete any saved memory.

7. Decide whether Memory should stay on. Memory is optional. If you turn it off, ChatGPT will not save or reference memory from past chats.

8. Know where to go for data requests. Where these options are available, you can export your ChatGPT data, delete your account, or submit a privacy request through the Privacy Portal.

Tips and common mistakes

• Turning off training does not delete your chats. Your conversations stay in your history unless you remove them yourself.
• Deleting a chat does not delete its memory. If you want a saved memory gone, review and delete it in the memory settings.
• Temporary chats are not instantly erased. They are kept for 30 days for safety purposes, and then deleted. Do not treat them as a place to share secrets.
• Do not share sensitive information. Only type things you would be comfortable having reviewed or used.
• Check your workplace or school rules. Workspace administrators can control some privacy options.

Example: you are planning a three-day trip and want help with a packing list and a rough itinerary. You could start a Temporary chat and use a prompt like this:

Help me plan a three-day city break. I like museums and cheap street food, and I have a budget of about 300 dollars. Suggest a simple itinerary and a packing list. Please do not ask for my home address or passport details.

This keeps the chat out of your history and memory, and it shares only the planning details you need.

Use it responsibly

Always check AI answers before you rely on them, especially for travel times, prices, health or money. Never paste private data into a chat, such as passwords, ID numbers, bank details or someone else’s personal information. Follow the rules of your workplace or school, and follow the service’s own terms as they apply to your account. Keep your account secure by using a strong password you do not share with anyone. Review your privacy settings from time to time, because your plan or workspace settings may change.