I use ChatGPT every day — I stick to these 3 rules to protect my privacy

At this point, ChatGPT is embedded into my system.

Besides writing about it on a constant basis, I also refer to it from time to time for minimal and sometimes substantial tasks. I’ve used it to map out the best places to go in the city when I have a three-day weekend to look forward to, asked it to come up with professional responses when drafting email responses to my fellow colleagues, and asked it how I should lay out my meal planning for the coming week.

After months and months of interactions with ChatGPT, I’ve become a lot more comfortable with the convenience that comes with using an AI assistant for a myriad of situations. I’ve also recognized all the smart habits one needs to abide by if they want to protect their privacy and never run the risk of having their most sensitive details exposed to the world during a possible data leak.

Sticking close to every bit of the following three rules goes a long way towards keeping my ChatGPT chats safe and private.

1. Never share something you wouldn’t post in a public forum

This one’s simple and sticks to a common-sense mindset.

There’s no way I’d hop into a Reddit forum and willingly type in my phone number, address, log-in credentials or any other piece of personally identifiable information. So there’s obviously no way I’d do the same with ChatGPT.

The promise of data encryption from ChatGPT is trustworthy, but I still keep the threat of data leaking from an AI cloud service at the back of my mind whenever I start up a new chat. I always think of ChatGPT as a super-intelligent stranger that I wouldn’t want to give my bank account information or Social Security Number to.

I apply this same rule to chatting with the wealth of apps implemented directly into ChatGPT. There’s no need for me to tell OpenTable the names of everyone coming to my dinner party when making restaurant reservations. And even though the allure of buying live events tickets through the Vivid Seats app is enticing, I feel so much safer sharing my payment details and doing it right through their actual site instead of handling such an important task through ChatGPT’s app.

2. Keep data sharing off and don’t turn on your location

I’m not too keen on having ChatGPT use my conversations to train it.

I also don’t need it to know where my exact location is. When using ChatGPT, I make sure to click on my username in the bottom left of the screen on desktop to go into the Settings menu (tap on the two lines in the top right corner of your screen, then tap your username circle in the top right corner to access that same menu) to make two appropriate changes: turning off the option to improve the model for everyone in Data Controls and toggling off the Location option.

Parental controls can also be enabled through the Settings menu for parents who want to limit certain features, set time usage limits, and add safeguards for their children’s ChatGPT interactions.

3. Use Temporary Chats when discussing sensitive topics

There are definitely some instances where I go to ChatGPT to ask for some alternative options to choose from when discussing the more sensitive topics that come to mind.

For those sorts of discussions, doing this is a must: start a new chat, then click on the thought bubble displayed in the top right corner of the screen on desktop/mobile to turn on the temporary chat option. That way, those particular conversations related to the more sensitive details of my life are never saved and reduce the amount of stored information attached to my chats. My digital footprint is big enough as it is — there’s no need to spread it out even further by running the risk of exposing myself because of my ChatGPT discussions.

Deleting old chats altogether is also the way to go. They tend to pile up after a long while after you forget to get rid of them, so it’s always worth cleaning them all out to make room for new archived chats as time goes by.

Personally, I like it when ChatGPT brings up past conversations and memories about my profession and hobbies when I open up new chats. If that’s not your thing, you can hop into the Settings menu, go to the Personalization tab, scroll down to Memory and turn off the options for Reference saved memories and Reference chat history to disable those features.

The takeaway

ChatGPT has become my go-to chatbot for most things related to developing productivity routines, helping me discover new places to hang out, and choosing the better option for any dilemma that’s troubling me.

With all that being said, my online privacy will always remain a priority during my time spent with the chatbot. Which is why I follow these three rules to make sure my interactions with ChatGPT stay safe at all times.

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