U.S. PIRG Advocate Warns Against Sharing Sensitive Information with AI Chatbots
R.J. Cross, a data privacy advocate with U.S. PIRG, has issued a warning regarding the privacy risks associated with using AI chatbots. According to Cross, information typed into AI chatbots can be stored by the companies operating them and, depending on the service and user settings, may also be used to train AI models. This raises concerns that personal data shared with chatbots could potentially be exposed or surfaced in other people's searches. Cross highlighted instances where information shared in chatbot conversations appeared elsewhere online, emphasizing that while private chats don't automatically become public, the storage and potential exposure of data are significant risks. Chatbot companies sometimes disclose that user data will be used for training, but often do not explicitly state that this data will also be stored on their servers, making it vulnerable to hacks or unintended exposure.
