Jul 1, 2024Single source
OpenAI's ChatGPT Mac App Stored User Data in Unencrypted Text Files
Rogue: Caused harmAI loose in the worldInjectionDERIVED
Approved by person, Oct 11, 2026. How entries are approved
OpenAI's ChatGPT macOS app stored user conversations in plain text. If accessed by a malicious actor, these conversations could have been easily read. The critical security flaw was demonstrated by a third party and ultimately resolved after OpenAI released an update to encrypt the stored data.
What this means for youIf you used the ChatGPT Mac app before the fix, your past chats may have been readable by anyone with access to your computer's files. Keep the app updated, and at work, ask that staff use current versions of AI tools that encrypt stored data.
Sources
- AI Incident Databasehttps://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/757
Data from the AI Incident Database (incidentdatabase.ai), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). McGregor, S. (2021) Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. IAAI-21.
Source data license: CC BY-SA 4.0 (database). Report contents keep their own rights; reports.text, submissions, images and videos are excluded from the data license.
rogue:R4
Covered by snapshot 45
da93f03b406f409940d0a6ef47b526607f82ebf457d98f69299b88aceede576a
This entry is record number 2026. It has not been edited since it was approved; the hash above would not match if it had. How to verify