{
  "slug": "chatgpt",
  "name": "ChatGPT",
  "maker": "OpenAI",
  "category": "ai",
  "verdict": "n",
  "answer": "No. OpenAI can read your ChatGPT chats, files and voice chats, and authorized staff can look at them. You can stop training on your chats or use a temporary chat, but neither seals anything.",
  "title": "Is ChatGPT encrypted? Who can read your chats",
  "description": "OpenAI can read your ChatGPT chats, files and voice chats. Turning off training or using temporary chats limits use but seals nothing.",
  "parts": [
    {
      "key": "msg",
      "status": "n",
      "words": "OpenAI can read it",
      "note": "Chats are encrypted on the way and on OpenAI's servers, but OpenAI can open them, and authorized staff can look at them.",
      "sources": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "label": "Your chats"
    },
    {
      "key": "file",
      "status": "n",
      "words": "OpenAI can read it",
      "note": "Files are handled like chats and can be used for training unless you turn that off.",
      "sources": [
        1,
        6
      ],
      "label": "Files you upload"
    },
    {
      "key": "mic",
      "status": "n",
      "words": "OpenAI can read it",
      "note": "Audio clips are kept with the chat for 30 days; transcripts are treated like typed chats, but the audio is used for training only if you choose to share it.",
      "sources": [
        7
      ],
      "label": "Voice chats"
    }
  ],
  "extra_parts": [],
  "keys": "OpenAI holds the keys.",
  "can_see": "Everything you send, including chats, files, voice clips and memories, plus your account details, though OpenAI says it doesn't sell your data or share your chats with advertisers.",
  "business": "On business plans, OpenAI says it doesn't use workspace chats to train its models by default.",
  "fix": {
    "title": "Stop ChatGPT training on your chats",
    "steps": [
      "Open your account menu and select Settings.",
      "Select Data controls.",
      "Turn off Improve the model for everyone, then select Done."
    ],
    "after": "This doesn't seal anything. OpenAI still stores your chats, and authorized staff can look at them to check for abuse, give support or handle legal matters. For a one-off chat that stays out of your history, select Temporary when you start a new chat. OpenAI may still keep a copy for up to 30 days."
  },
  "fix_line": "Turn off training: Settings › Data controls › Improve the model for everyone.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "can-openai-read-my-chats",
      "q": "Can OpenAI read my ChatGPT chats?",
      "a": "Yes. OpenAI says your content is encrypted on the way and on its servers [2], but that doesn't keep it from OpenAI. A limited number of authorized staff and contractors can look at your chats to investigate abuse, give support, handle legal matters, or improve its models unless you've opted out [1].\n\nIn November 2025, OpenAI said client-side encryption for chats is on its long-term plans [10]. It hadn't launched as of 25 October 2026. Locked chats, now rolling out, hide chats behind a PIN, but OpenAI says they don't add end-to-end encryption [8]."
    },
    {
      "id": "does-chatgpt-train-on-my-chats",
      "q": "Does ChatGPT train on my chats?",
      "a": "By default, yes, on Free, Plus and Pro [3]. Turn off Improve the model for everyone in Settings › Data controls, and your new chats won't be used for training [3].\n\nOne catch: if you rate an answer with a thumbs up or down, OpenAI may use that whole chat for training even after you opt out [4]. Transcripts of voice chats follow the same setting, but the recordings themselves are used only if you choose to share them [7]."
    },
    {
      "id": "are-temporary-chats-deleted",
      "q": "Are ChatGPT temporary and deleted chats really deleted?",
      "a": "Temporary chats stay out of your history and aren't used for training, but OpenAI may keep a copy for up to 30 days for safety [5]. Deleted chats are removed from OpenAI's systems within 30 days, unless it must keep them for security or legal reasons [6].\n\nThat exception has been used. In 2025, a court order in The New York Times' lawsuit made OpenAI keep consumer chats, including deleted and temporary ones [9]. The order ended on 26 September 2025, but OpenAI still holds some chats from April to September 2025 under a legal hold [9]."
    },
    {
      "id": "chatgpt-new-york-times-logs",
      "q": "Did OpenAI have to hand ChatGPT chats to The New York Times?",
      "a": "In November 2025, OpenAI said the Times was demanding 20 million chats, picked at random from December 2022 to November 2024, and that it was removing personal details from them [10]. In January 2026, a judge upheld the order to hand over that de-identified sample [11].\n\nOpenAI said chats from Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces were not included [10]."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "How OpenAI handles data in consumer services",
      "publisher": "OpenAI",
      "url": "https://help.openai.com/en/articles/7039943-how-openai-handles-data-in-consumer-services",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Security and privacy at OpenAI",
      "publisher": "OpenAI",
      "url": "https://openai.com/security-and-privacy/",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Data controls in ChatGPT",
      "publisher": "OpenAI",
      "url": "https://help.openai.com/en/articles/7730893-data-controls-in-chatgpt",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "How your data is used to improve model performance",
      "publisher": "OpenAI",
      "url": "https://help.openai.com/en/articles/5722486-how-your-data-is-used-to-improve-model-performance",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Temporary chat in ChatGPT",
      "publisher": "OpenAI",
      "url": "https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8914046-temporary-chat-in-chatgpt",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Chat and file retention in ChatGPT",
      "publisher": "OpenAI",
      "url": "https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8983778-chat-and-file-retention-in-chatgpt",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "ChatGPT Voice",
      "publisher": "OpenAI",
      "url": "https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001274-chatgpt-voice",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Using locked chats in ChatGPT",
      "publisher": "OpenAI",
      "url": "https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001411-using-locked-chats-in-chatgpt",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "How we're responding to The New York Times' data demands in order to protect user privacy",
      "publisher": "OpenAI",
      "url": "https://openai.com/index/response-to-nyt-data-demands/",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Fighting the New York Times' invasion of user privacy",
      "publisher": "OpenAI",
      "url": "https://openai.com/index/fighting-nyt-user-privacy-invasion/",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "OpenAI Must Turn Over 20 Million ChatGPT Logs, Judge Affirms",
      "publisher": "Bloomberg Law",
      "url": "https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/openai-must-turn-over-20-million-chatgpt-logs-judge-affirms",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    }
  ],
  "changes": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-25",
      "text": "First published."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "gemini",
    "meta-ai",
    "copilot"
  ],
  "url": "https://isitencrypted.com/chatgpt/",
  "checked": "2026-10-25"
}