OpenAI Rolls Out Locked Chats in ChatGPT With PIN, Face ID or Touch ID Protection

4.3 · 11d ago · WORLD · AI

The Facts

  • OpenAI announced on Tuesday that ChatGPT users can lock conversations to keep sensitive chats private when others may have access to their screen or device. TechCrunch only
  • Locked chats can be secured with a four-digit PIN, or with Face ID or Touch ID on supported devices. TechCrunch only
  • Locked chats move to a dedicated 'Locked Chats' section, separate from regular chat history, pinned conversations and chat search results. TechCrunch only
  • With Memory enabled, Locked Chats has its own separate memory shared across chats in that section; messages sent after locking update that memory but not regular Memory. TechCrunch only
  • Resetting a PIN permanently deletes all locked chats, files and other content protected by the previous PIN. TechCrunch only
Dive deeper · 3 more factsShow less
  • OpenAI says locking a chat does not create end-to-end encryption or a separate encrypted vault, change chat retention, remove information ChatGPT remembered before locking, or change the 'Improve the model for everyone' setting. TechCrunch only
  • Locking is not available for temporary chats, archived chats, group chats, chats created from a shared link, chats with scheduled tasks, or chats with meeting recordings. TechCrunch only
  • The feature is available on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans, but not ChatGPT for Healthcare, and began rolling out Tuesday. TechCrunch only

Context

OpenAI has added a Locked Chats feature to ChatGPT, aimed at keeping conversations private when a device or screen is shared with others. Unlike Temporary Chats, which are separate sessions that do not appear in history, locked chats can be revisited at any time.

OpenAI says the feature is an access control and not a change to data handling: it does not add end-to-end encryption or alter retention. The rollout began Tuesday and may not yet be available to all users.

How the Agent Panel Scored This

Independent AI personas each scored importance 1–10; the story's score is a trimmed mean (highest and lowest votes dropped). Vote spread: 1.

5 News Editor A concrete product launch affecting a large ChatGPT user base, but it is a feature addition with limited scope rather than a major breaking event, so it sits in the moderate range.
4 Business Analyst This is a product feature rollout for a consumer privacy access control in ChatGPT, affecting many users but not market-moving or regulatory, and it explicitly does not change data handling or retention.
4 Informed Citizen A new privacy feature rolling out to ChatGPT users is a concrete product change affecting many users, but its impact is limited to optional access control rather than broad immediate consequences.

Source

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