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Assume anything you type into an AI chatbot could be collected and stored by the service. Whether it is used to improve models, reviewed by people, retained after deletion, or shared with service providers depends on the provider, product, settings, and applicable terms. Treat a chatbot as an online service—not as a confidential conversation—and avoid entering information you would not want exposed.
What happens to information you tell a chatbot?
A chatbot interface can feel private, but your message is processed by a service. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada warns that information may be collected and stored, and could be used for purposes such as model training or profiling, or disclosed. These are possible practices and risks, not a claim that every service does all of them. The authority also cautions that data handling and sharing may not always be clearly explained to users. Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada: Your privacy and AI chatbots
Do not assume that a conversation is confidential just because it is in a private account, disappears from the visible chat list, or is not used for model improvement. Those controls can affect particular uses or retention, but they do not by themselves create legal confidentiality or guarantee that all copies and associated data are erased.
Can a chatbot use your conversations to train models?
Possibly, depending on the service and its current terms and settings. There is no safe universal answer across chatbot providers, or even necessarily across consumer and business versions of a provider’s service. Check the specific product’s policy and controls for whether prompts and responses may be used to improve or train models, what opting out changes, and whether the setting applies to future chats only.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission says providers must honor their privacy commitments, including promises about using customer data to train or update models. The FTC warns that material omissions or undisclosed changes to those commitments can create legal risk. Its January 2024 guidance describes the regulator’s position; it is not a finding that every provider has broken the law, and it is not a universal rule for every country. FTC: AI Companies: Uphold Your Privacy and Confidentiality Commitments
In September 2025, the FTC sought information from seven consumer-facing chatbot providers about, among other matters, how they process or share personal information from conversations and how they disclose data practices. The inquiry included questions about monetization and safety; it was information-gathering, not a ruling that the firms violated privacy law. FTC: FTC Launches Inquiry into AI Chatbots’ Role as Companions
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Should you share personal or sensitive information?
Share as little as possible. Avoid entering passwords, financial account details, government identifiers, private medical records, confidential work material, or identifying information about yourself or someone else unless you have a clear, authorized reason and understand the service’s applicable protections.
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Canada’s privacy commissioner recommends limiting personal information, avoiding sensitive or identifying details, changing identifying details or using aliases, deleting history where possible, and reviewing privacy settings. These steps can reduce exposure; they cannot guarantee confidentiality. Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada: Your privacy and AI chatbots
Make a prompt less identifying
Instead of pasting a full document, ask about a short excerpt with names and other identifiers removed. Replace exact dates, locations, employer names, account numbers, or unusual personal details with general descriptions when those specifics are not needed for the answer. If the task requires identifiable or confidential data, use only a service and account your organization or professional adviser has approved for that purpose.
What privacy settings and terms should you check?
Before sharing anything personal, review the current terms and privacy controls for the exact service and account you use. Look for these points:
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- Product and account type: Consumer and business offerings may have different terms and data controls. Confirm which one applies to your account.
- Model improvement: Check whether conversations may be used to train or improve models, how to change that use, and when the setting takes effect.
- Retention and deletion: Find out how long chats and related data are kept, what deletion removes, and whether any exceptions apply.
- History or temporary-chat controls: Determine what these options change—and whether they affect only visible history, training use, or retention as well.
- Human review and safety handling: Check whether authorized staff or contractors may review conversations for safety, support, or service improvement, and under what conditions.
- Service providers and sharing: Review whether information may be processed by vendors or disclosed for other stated purposes.
- Age and account controls: Check applicable age rules and available controls, especially before a child uses a chatbot.
- Jurisdiction: Consider which country’s terms and laws apply to you. Regulatory guidance in one jurisdiction does not automatically describe your rights elsewhere.
Settings can change and may apply differently by product, account, or conversation. Read the service’s current policy rather than relying on a general claim about a company’s chatbots.
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Does turning off chat history make a conversation confidential?
No. A history or temporary-session setting may limit a particular use or change how a conversation appears in your account, but its effect depends on the service’s terms. It should not be treated as a promise that the provider cannot process, retain, review, or disclose the information under its stated policies, or that the conversation has legal confidentiality protections.
Likewise, deleting a chat is not necessarily the same as immediately erasing every copy or related record. Check the provider’s explanation of deletion and retention, and avoid relying on a control as protection for information that must remain confidential.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What do regulators say about chatbot privacy?
Regulatory guidance reinforces two useful points: AI services remain subject to applicable laws, and the details depend on jurisdiction and circumstances. The FTC says, “There is no AI exemption from the laws on the books,” while emphasizing providers’ obligations to honor privacy commitments. That is the FTC’s statement about U.S. law, not a substitute for jurisdiction-specific legal advice. FTC guidance on privacy and confidentiality commitments
In January 2025, California’s Attorney General said existing California laws apply to AI and highlighted privacy and autonomy risks in healthcare uses. The advisories are expressly non-comprehensive; they do not describe every law or determine every person’s rights in every jurisdiction. California Department of Justice: Attorney General Bonta Issues Advisories Reminding Californians Existing Laws Apply to Artificial Intelligence
These statements do not mean that every chatbot practice is unlawful. They mean privacy commitments and applicable laws still matter, and users should not infer protections that the service has not actually promised.
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