Your favorite AI chatbot might be tracking you. A new study has shown that all top AI chatbots collect user data, and some even share it with third parties.
The most popular AI chatbots on the Apple App Store not only gather your personal data but also share it with third-party advertisers.
A recent study by the cybersecurity firm Surfshark shows that all of the top ten most popular AI chatbots collect user data, and 30% of them share it with third parties for targeted advertising or measurement purposes or even with a data broker.
Apple's App Store privacy guidelines indicate 35 types of data the app might collect. Among the chatbots, the average number of collected types of data is 11.
Top 10 data-greedy AI chatbots:
- Gemini (22)
- Poe (14)
- Claude (13)
- Copilot (12)
- DeepSeek (11)
- ChatGPT (10)
- Perplexity (10)
- Grok (7)
- Pi (5)
- Jasper (5)
According to the findings, Google’s Gemini is among the most data-greedy AI chatbots, collecting 22 data types, including the user's precise location.
Gemini also collects a significant amount of data across various other categories, such as contact info, such as name, email address, phone number, user content, contacts in the user’s phone, search and browsing history, and several other types of data.
“This extensive data collection may be seen as excessive and intrusive by those concerned about data privacy and security,” commented Surfshark researchers.
ChatGPT collects less data, with only 10 types, including contact info, user content, identifiers, usage data, and diagnostics. It does not track users or use third-party ads.
On the other hand, ChatGPT stores chat history. To protect privacy, users can enable temporary chats that auto-delete after 30 days or request the removal of personal data from training sets.
“Overall, ChatGPT collects slightly fewer types of data than some other analyzed apps, but users should still review the privacy policy to understand how this data is used and protected,” write the researchers.
The Chinese chatbot DeepSeek collects 11 unique types of data and also stores chat history. The app developers claim to retain information for as long as necessary, storing it on servers located in the People's Republic of China.
Copilot, Poe, and Jasper AI chatbots are collecting data that could be used to track users, such as device IDs. In addition, Jasper collects product interaction data, advertising data, and other usage data. Such data could be used for targeted advertisement or be sold to data brokers.
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