Sam Altman, CEO of technology company OpenAI, has warned that people who think of ChatGPT as a digital diary or therapist should stop assuming that their secrets are safe.

In an interview, Sam Altman warned that conversations with ChatGPT do not have the same legal protections as those with a therapist, lawyer or doctor.

He said that people tell ChatGPT the most private aspects of their lives. The company has not yet found a solution to this problem.

ChatGPT’s privacy issues are under scrutiny, thanks to a court order in the New York Times’ ongoing copyright case against OpenAI.

The court has ordered the company to store all users’ chat logs (including deleted ones) indefinitely.

The court order also applies to ChatGap Free, Plus, Pro and Teams users who use the ‘temporary chat’ mode, in which conversations are typically destroyed after 30 days. All those chats will be archived separately for potential legal reviews.