ChatGPT has grown to become a popular tool that allows users to generate text on almost any topic. However, experts have raised concerns about the tool’s potential privacy risks to users.
One of the primary issues identified is the fact that ChatGPT was reportedly trained on 300 billion words scraped from the web without users’ consent. This means that personal information, including names, locations, opinions, and preferences, may have been used by OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, to create its AI model. The use of personal data without consent violates users’ privacy rights and could potentially expose them to identity theft, fraud, or harassment.
OpenAI also utilizes cookies to monitor users’ online activity both within the chat interface and on its website. According to the company, this data is utilized for analytics purposes, allowing them to gain insight into how users interact with ChatGPT.
Additionally, OpenAI doesn’t have age controls to prevent kids under 13 from using it. And, it’s been reported that the system sometimes generates information about people that isn’t accurate. There are allegations that OpenAI collected data from users without their knowledge. Some experts claim that OpenAI had no legal right to collect personal information from individuals used to train ChatGPT.
Finally, experts have warned that using ChatGPT to generate text copied without permission from copyrighted works could violate the intellectual property rights of authors, artists, or publishers. This could result in legal action against users, impacting their creativity and livelihood.
These privacy problems with ChatGPT are not trivial and should not be ignored. ChatGPT may provide a fun and convenient way to chat online, but it may also compromise users’ personal data and violate their privacy rights. Therefore, users should be careful and cautious when using ChatGPT and always check the source and validity of its responses.