OpenAI recently removed a controversial ChatGPT feature that allowed users to make their private conversations publicly discoverable and searchable via search engines like Google. This feature was an opt-in “Make this chat discoverable” checkbox included in the chat’s sharing option. Users who selected this made their conversations indexable by search engines, which then showed up publicly in search results.
The removal happened after widespread reports emerged of private, sensitive, and even confidential conversations appearing publicly on Google Search. Despite requiring explicit user consent, many unintentionally shared private information by ticking the checkbox, often without fully understanding the risks. Examples found online included personal topics, corporate data, emotional reflections, and even confessions.
OpenAI’s Chief Information Security Officer Dane Stuckey said this was a “short-lived experiment” intended to help people discover useful conversations, but it “introduced too many opportunities for folks to accidentally share things they didn’t intend to.” The feature was quickly disabled and OpenAI is actively working to remove previously indexed content from search engines. Conversations made public were anonymized but could still reveal identifiable information if users mentioned names or specific details.
OpenAI pulled the ChatGPT discoverability feature to address significant privacy concerns after private chats became unexpectedly public through search indexing.
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