I criticized ChatGPT’s privacy beginning in the chatbot’s early days. The initial ChatGPT privacy fix wasn’t good enough either.

But it’s the more recent developments at OpenAI that made me dig into the issue a bit more. It’s not just about the Sam Altman CEO drama we witnessed over the past few days. However, Altman’s firing plays a role in my renewed interest in ChatGPT privacy. I want stability and transparency from a company that works on something as exciting and dangerous as AI.

More importantly, while the OpenAI factions were fighting their battles, ChatGPT engineers rolled out voice support to the free version of the mobile app. As I’ve shown you, ChatGPT seems to be confused about what happens with voice chats. It thinks it’s not storing them, but then you see a full chat transcript appear in your history.

Now, if you’ve been using ChatGPT for the better part of a year, you know how annoying the ChatGPT privacy settings are. You can choose to stop your data from reaching OpenAI and training the future ChatGPT models, but that means losing your history. That’s not good enough for me. I’d like more granular settings where I can choose what history to keep and what data to send to OpenAI.

It turns out it’s very easy to keep your ChatGPT history and stop OpenAI from training the chatbot using your data. And it only took me 3 minutes to get it done.

ChatGPT privacy settings

While testing the ChatGPT voice feature on my iPhone, I checked the chatbot’s privacy features again to see if OpenAI had quietly updated it. To do it, tap on your profile name, go to Data controls, and the first setting you’ll see is Chat history & training.

It’s a toggle I keep enabled because I want access to my chat history. But keeping it on also means ChatGPT will train itself using all my chats.

Here’s how OpenAI briefly describes the privacy policy:

Save new chats on this browser to your history and allow them to be used to improve our models. Unsaved chats will be deleted from our systems within 30 days. This setting does not sync across browsers or devices. Learn more

Since I value ChatGPT, I do want it to improve. It needs data for that, including my chats. Sure, I can get on board with that. But I want to select which conversations I send to OpenAI and which I keep private. And I want to keep the history turned on and manually delete chats I don’t need.

The current ChatGPT privacy settings are not good enough. I can’t opt out without losing the history. OpenAI has to overhaul them, regardless of whether it’s making its own ChatGPT hardware. Personal ChatGPT experiences of the future need to be private. We have to be able to stop the flow of information towards OpenAI’s servers without losing chat history.

The ChatGPT privacy policy FAQ

The OpenAI description above has a Learn more button which will take you to a privacy FAQ section

In it, I found the question I have: “What if I want to keep my history on but disable model training?” It turns out OpenAI has the answer I want:

We are working on a new offering called ChatGPT Business that will opt end-users out of model training by default. In the meantime, you can opt out from our use of your data to improve our services by filling out this form. Once you submit the form, new conversations will not be used to train our models.

How to keep your ChatGPT history, but prevent it from training models

I didn’t think that following the link to the form would actually work. But this is where the 3-minute process started. The link takes you to a new OpenAI page, the OpenAl Privacy Request Portal at this link.

You’ll want to tap the Make a Privacy Request button. A prompt will appear on the screen to tell you to verify your email.

Check your email, verify the OpenAI message, and you’ll be taken to the same page. Again, tap that Make a Privacy Request button where you’ll be given two options: Do not train on my content and Delete my data.

The advanced, but somewhat hidden ChatGPT privacy setting we need. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR

When you think of Black Shark, gaming smartphones may come to mind. If not, well, they’re known for making fairly affordable Android gaming smartphones with flagship specifications. Today, the company announced a new range of gaming gear to complement your mobile gaming experience.

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

The new gear includes a game controller, open earphones, a MagSafe-compatible cooling fan, and a smartwatch.

First up is the Green Ghost Gamepad, a wireless game controller for Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, and PC. It offers a polling rate of 1,000 Hz, a 1,000 mAh battery, enhanced anti-slip grips, seamless software integration, an app for RGB customization, and more.

The MagCooler 3 Pro cooler is for iPhones and is MagSafe-compatible. According to Black Shark, it offers up to a 35°C drop in temperature by way of multiple cooling technologies. This cooler is built using a large heat sink, conductive copper plate, and thermal paste — and can cool down to a chilly -10°C.

Audio is important to gamers and the Black Shark Lucifer Earphones have an open-ear design, sitting over your ear instead of inside them like earbuds are designed to do. As the company states, the Lucifer Earphones are equipped with powerful 16.2mm drivers, and deliver deep, resonating bass that adds depth to the audio experience. With an IPX4 water resistance rating, they are built to withstand the rigours of daily life, whether you’re caught in the rain or working up a sweat during an intense gaming session. Featuring advanced Bluetooth 5.3 technology, these earphones offer seamless connectivity and a stable audio connection. What’s more, with up to an impressive 28 hours of playtime on a single charge and a swift 2-hour charging time, the
Lucifer Earphones keep the entertainment going without interruptions.

Last, but not least, is the very affordable Black Shark S1 Smartwatch with a 43-inch AMOLED display, 10-day battery life, SpO2 level monitoring, heart rate tracking, and over 100 sports modes. The 466×466 pixel display offers a 60Hz refresh rate and 600 nit brightness. You can even take calls for a true hands-free experience while on the go.

The latest Black Shark gaming gear is available for pre-order from the company’s website, and is priced as follows:

The company also offers free shipping on orders over $90.

What do you think about the latest gaming gear from Black Shark? Are you going to be picking any or all of them up? Let us know on social media by using the buttons below.

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