OpenAI released its ChatGPT app for Mac less than two weeks ago, but it’s already been hit with security issues.
It turns out the ChatGPT for Mac app was storing conversations between users and its AI chatbot in plaintext.
OpenAI has since fixed this issue in an update, so it’s important to download the latest ChatGPT for Mac version from here: OpenAI website.
ChatGPT isn’t alone: ​​a new AI chatbot is coming to iPhone, according to a new report.
ChatGPT for Mac security flaw
Last week, Threads user @pvieito discovered The recently released ChatGPT for Mac application stored user conversations with AI chatbots in plaintext and unencrypted locations.
Mashable Lightspeed
Because these conversations were stored locally, a bad actor would need access to the user’s computer to use them for malicious purposes. However, as recently reported by Mashable and other media, issues with Microsoft’s Recall feature have increasingly allowed bad actors to use malicious remote methods to gain access to the computers of unsuspecting victims.
As @pvieito pointed out, OpenAI distributes the ChatGPT Mac app through its own website, rather than through Apple’s Mac App Store. Apple is notorious for imposing strict guidelines on developers who choose to distribute apps through its official app store, but doesn’t hold third parties who distribute through their own platform to the same security standards.
“We are aware of this issue and have shipped a new version of our application that encrypts these conversations,” an OpenAI spokesperson said. The Verge “We are committed to providing a helpful user experience while maintaining high security standards as technology evolves,” the company said in a statement last week.
The issue has since been fixed, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time for OpenAI: ChatGPT’s developers and Apple announced a partnership just last month, and Apple is well-known for prioritizing user privacy. In fact, Apple reportedly couldn’t trust Meta with privacy concerns, leading the iPhone maker to abandon using Meta’s AI models in favor of Apple Intelligence ambitions.
OpenAI will need to be more proactive about privacy and security issues going forward, lest its partners question its trustworthiness.
