OpenAI's ChatGPT Mac App Stored User Data in Unencrypted Text Files
July 1, 2024
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.
- Alleged deployer
- openai
- Alleged developer
- openai
- Alleged harmed parties
- chatgpt-macos-users
Source
Data from the AI Incident Database (AIID). Cite this incident: https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/757
Data source
Incident data is from the AI Incident Database (AIID).
When citing the database as a whole, please use:
McGregor, S. (2021) Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. In Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-21). Virtual Conference.
Pre-print on arXiv · Database snapshots & citation guide
We use weekly snapshots of the AIID for stable reference. For the official suggested citation of a specific incident, use the “Cite this incident” link on each incident page.