NNH | National | Technology | Privacy
By Joseph Emenike
Abuja | July 28, 2025
Sam Altman, the Chief Executive Officer of OpenAI, has cautioned users of ChatGPT against assuming their conversations with the AI chatbot are private. In a candid discussion on the This Past Weekend podcast, Altman acknowledged that many users, especially young people, share deeply personal experiences and emotions with the AI tool—but warned that such chats do not enjoy any legal confidentiality.
“People talk about the most personal stuff in their lives to ChatGPT,” Altman said. “Young people especially use it as a therapist or a life coach, having relationship problems and asking, ‘What should I do?’”
However, unlike communications with doctors, lawyers, or licensed therapists, Altman explained that conversations with ChatGPT are not protected by legal privilege and could be accessed or disclosed in the event of legal action.
“There’s doctor-patient confidentiality, there’s legal confidentiality, whatever. We haven’t figured that out yet for when you talk to ChatGPT,” he added.
The warning comes as AI tools like ChatGPT continue to integrate into everyday life—handling everything from academic assistance and job applications to mental health support. Yet, there is no regulatory framework that currently guarantees the privacy of such interactions.
Altman confirmed that OpenAI may be compelled by a court to produce user conversations if required.
“If someone confides their most personal issues to ChatGPT, and that ends up in legal proceedings, we could be required to hand that over,” he said.
OpenAI does allow users to turn off chat history, opt out of training data use, and delete past interactions from their account dashboards. But Altman stressed that users should act with caution until broader privacy laws are updated.
“I think that’s very screwed up,” Altman admitted. “I think we should have the same concept of privacy for your conversations with AI that we do with a therapist or whatever.”
Technology analysts and legal experts are calling for new regulations that reflect the changing role of AI in human communication. Until such measures are in place, Altman’s advice is clear: treat your AI interactions as if they’re being recorded—because they could be.
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