Safety
Is ChatGPT safe to use?
Whether ChatGPT is safe depends on what you share with it. By default it saves your chats to your account until you delete them, may use them to train its models unless you opt out, can remember details across chats, and on free plans can use the conversation to pick ads. Its own settings limit each of these.
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What ChatGPT collects
OpenAI’s privacy policy, updated in February 2026, lists the content you enter, including prompts, files, images, audio and video. With an account it also collects your name, contact details, date of birth and payment history. Every visit adds log and device data: your IP address, browser, device identifiers, a general location worked out from the IP address, and how you use the service.
The policy lets OpenAI share personal data with service providers, with administrators of a work account you join, with buyers in a merger or sale, and with government authorities where it believes the law requires it. It also says OpenAI may monitor content to prevent misuse.
How long it keeps your chats
Chats stay in your account until you delete them. A deleted chat leaves your account at once and is scheduled for permanent deletion within 30 days, unless it was already de-identified or OpenAI must keep it for security or legal reasons. Archiving only hides a chat; it is kept like any other.
Temporary Chats are not saved to your history and are deleted within 30 days. Uploaded files can outlive the chat: files saved to your Library are managed separately, and files in a custom GPT or project stay until that GPT or project is deleted.
When your chats train its models
For personal plans, OpenAI says it may use your content to train its models unless you opt out. Turning off “Improve the model for everyone” in Data Controls stops new conversations from being used; past ones are not affected. Business, Enterprise and API customers are not trained on by default.
One exception survives the opt-out: if you rate a reply with thumbs up or thumbs down, OpenAI says the whole conversation behind that rating may be used for training.
Memory and ads
With memory on, ChatGPT picks up details from your chats, files and connected apps to personalize later answers. Saved memories are stored apart from chat history, so deleting a chat does not delete what was remembered from it. OpenAI says fully removing something means deleting every source where it appears, and it may keep a log of deleted saved memories for up to 30 days.
Ads appear below replies for users who are not on Plus, Pro or a business plan and are not identified as under 18. OpenAI says ads are chosen using the current conversation and, when ad personalization is on, signals from your wider ChatGPT use.
How to limit what ChatGPT keeps
Turn off “Improve the model for everyone” under Settings, then Data Controls. Use Temporary Chat for anything sensitive, since it skips history and memory and is not used for training. Review the memory summary, delete memories you do not want, or turn memory off. Turn off ad personalization if you see ads. Delete chats you no longer need, and delete their Library files separately.
Above all, leave out what the task does not need: full names, account numbers, health details about other people, passwords and recovery codes. No setting makes a hosted chatbot unable to read what you send it.
How nokeep differs
nokeep needs no account, so there is no name, email or date of birth to collect. Saved chats live in your browser and nokeep keeps no server copy of them; it does not train on your chats and runs no ads or advertising trackers. The tradeoff is that nothing syncs between devices, and clearing browser data erases your history.
Like ChatGPT, nokeep uses hosted models, so a prompt still has to be processed to be answered. Free use covers 25 messages and 2 images a day, plus one short video clip while the daily free supply lasts.
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Asked before you asked
Does turning off training delete my ChatGPT history?
No. Chats stay in your history; they are only excluded from training from that point on. Deleting history is a separate step.
Is Temporary Chat private?
More than a normal chat: it is not saved to history, does not use or create memories and is not used for training. OpenAI still keeps it for up to 30 days and may review it to monitor for abuse.
Does ChatGPT use my conversations for ads?
On plans that show ads, OpenAI says ads are matched to the current conversation and, with ad personalization on, to signals from your wider use. Plus, Pro, business and under-18 accounts see no ads.
Can I use ChatGPT without an account?
Yes, signed out, with fewer features. Signed-out users can still turn off training in settings. OpenAI still receives your prompts and the usual log data, such as your IP address.