Picture your computer keeping a diary \u2014 the kind kids used to keep logging their daily activities, or the kind travelers, merchants, and nobles kept centuries before that. Here\u2019s what it might look like.<\/p>\n
Thursday, September 10.<\/p>\n
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- 8:00 AM. User read the news on cnn.com and bbc.co.uk (Safari).<\/li>\n
- 8:10 AM. User replied to John Kaufman\u2019s email about delivery dates, then sent the same question to the logistics team (Gmail).<\/li>\n
- 8:20 AM. User checked his to-do list, reviewed recent updates, and planned out the day\u2019s priorities (Todo).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n
We\u2019re not exaggerating. This is exactly what your Mac\u2019s new diary looks like. It\u2019s a set of text files that any app on your computer can read \u2014 as can anyone sitting at the keyboard. The feature responsible is called Computer History<\/a>, and it was released by OpenAI in mid-August. At the moment, it only works in the ChatGPT app for Mac, requires a Pro subscription or higher, and is disabled by default. According to its developers, the idea behind History is to let the AI assistant quickly get up to speed on your work context, so it can answer even vague requests, like \u201csend a reminder to whoever I was emailing about last week\u2019s deliveries\u201d. Of course, that convenience comes at a price, ranging from your data being processed on OpenAI\u2019s servers, to the risk of it leaking off your Mac \u2014 whether to a nosy family member or straight into the hands of cybercriminals.<\/p>\n
How ChatGPT Computer History works<\/h2>\n
If this sounds a lot like Microsoft\u2019s similar Recall feature<\/a>, or Chronicle, which OpenAI itself announced earlier, that\u2019s no coincidence. Both were built with the same goal in mind, just using different methods. Having watched Recall turn into the PR disaster<\/a> it was, the team behind Computer History decided against constantly taking and analyzing screenshots. Instead, ChatGPT relies on macOS\u2019s Accessibility features to read the text on your screen and track your actions: mouse clicks, text typed into fields, switching between apps, and the like. All of this gets stored as a stream of raw activity data inside the ChatGPT container (app group<\/a>), which only the ChatGPT app itself, or other apps you\u2019ve specifically given permission, can access. In tests<\/a> run by digital forensics researchers, just two hours of normal computer use generated around 3500 of these logged events.<\/p>\n
That raw data remains on your computer for up to 48 hours. During this time, the ChatGPT app periodically runs hidden chat sessions behind the scenes, where it asks the AI to summarize related events into a single recap. Essentially diary entries, these summaries get saved as plain text files in a folder that any app on your Mac can open: ~\/.codex\/memories\/extensions\/skysight\/<\/em>.<\/p>\n
When you chat with the assistant, or when certain automated features kick in, these notes can be pulled into the conversation for more context-aware responses. OpenAI is especially keen on pointing out that the assistant can spot patterns in your workflows and offer to automate them, creating what it calls \u201cskills\u201d that replicate your actions for you.<\/p>\n
Once a summary is ready, the raw activity data behind it is deleted. OpenAI says it won\u2019t keep those hidden background chats or use them to train its AI, except where required by law. The diary-style summaries that get pulled into your conversations, though, are stored on OpenAI\u2019s servers under the exact same rules as your regular chats and the assistant\u2019s memory, so your preexisting privacy settings will apply to them too.<\/p>\n
What Computer History can see, and what you can turn off<\/h2>\n
Since the whole feature runs on accessibility tools, ChatGPT only picks up what your operating system is already willing to share with those tools. That includes window titles, blocks of text, image captions in your browser, text you\u2019re typing into a field as you type it, and the names of interface elements you click on. Watching a video? The AI can\u2019t see the video itself, but it can read the window title, the site name, and the video description. Browsing photos? It sees file and folder names, not the actual images. Audio is never recorded or saved in any situation. All that gets logged from a video call is the meeting window title, unless the call itself has live captions turned on. Password fields that are masked (shown as dots) aren\u2019t read at all and, according to OpenAI, private browsing windows are never scanned.<\/p>\n
One thing that sets this apart from Microsoft Recall is the clearly spelled out step-by-step procedure the user needs to go through to turn it on. Computer History never activates itself. You have to navigate to the settings menu, then Integrations \u2192 Computer History<\/em> and turn it on manually after reading through the warnings and explanations. You\u2019ll also need access to the agent\u2019s memory enabled for the feature to work. From there, you choose which apps and websites you want it to track, and confirm a series of macOS permission prompts.<\/p>\n
For companies using a business subscription, this requires approval at two levels: an administrator first has to enable Computer History for the whole organization, and then each employee has to turn it on individually.<\/p>\n
At any point, you can go to Computer History \u2192 Permissions<\/em> and either list specific apps and sites to exclude from tracking, or, conversely, set ChatGPT to only watch a limited list you choose (Include only these apps, Include only these websites<\/em>).<\/p>\n
To see what your own computer\u2019s diary looks like, check Computer History \u2192 History<\/em>. From there, you can delete individual entries or disable the tracking of specific apps directly from the list.<\/p>\n
The risks of using ChatGPT Computer History<\/h2>\n
We covered the risks of centralized storage of someone\u2019s entire activity in our earlier piece on Microsoft Recall, and most of what we said there applies to ChatGPT Computer History.<\/p>\n
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- You might assume your chats and emails are private, protected by passwords and encryption. But a copy of the most important parts of those conversations is sitting in plain text files that anyone with access to your computer, and plenty of other apps, can open.<\/li>\n
- The people you\u2019re messaging have no idea this extra copy exists. If they\u2019ve turned on, say, a self-destructing chat feature, but the messaging app\u2019s window itself isn\u2019t marked as private, that precaution does nothing to protect them.<\/li>\n
- Even if you trust OpenAI completely and take its privacy promises at face value, your data can still be stolen directly off your computer by an infostealer. Mac-targeting infostealers have exploded over the past two years<\/a>, so this isn\u2019t a hypothetical risk. And the people who write this type of malware move fast, quickly updating it to grab whatever new type of data looks promising. OpenAI\u2019s files are a boon for them: everything you\u2019ve done, already summarized by AI into something easy to read. While there are no passwords or credit card numbers in there, the available details are likely enough to craft a convincing targeted urgent email from the boss<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- And if a nosy coworker or family member gets their hands on your computer, reading through the diary of your work and life would take them all of five minutes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Computer History: turn it off, or just configure it?<\/h2>\n
We\u2019d recommend limiting or fully disabling Computer History if your work involves sensitive information. This especially applies to doctors, lawyers, and anyone else bound by professional confidentiality, or handling personal or medical data. The same goes for anyone living with an overly controlling family member, or working in an office with nosy coworkers.<\/p>\n
If none of that applies to you and you\u2019d like to try out how useful the AI\u2019s search and auto-generated skills actually are, here\u2019s how to set things up safely.<\/p>\n
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- Lock down your Mac\u2019s login.<\/strong> Turn off auto-login, and set your Mac to require a password immediately after the screensaver kicks in or it wakes from sleep. Use a strong password along with Touch ID, and make sure FileVault disk encryption is turned on.<\/li>\n
- Set up your exclusions.<\/strong> Manually add every messaging app you use for private conversations, along with any finance apps or sites, and anywhere else you keep sensitive information, to Computer History\u2019s exclusion list.<\/li>\n
- Check in regularly.<\/strong> At least a couple of times a week, visit Computer History settings to see which apps and sites it\u2019s been tracking. This helps you catch and remove any sources of private information you forgot to exclude earlier.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
No matter how you configure Computer History, the two most common ways your data could end up in the wrong hands \u2014 on any Mac \u2014 are a macOS infostealer snatching it directly from your computer, and typing your information into a fake website. To guard against both, make sure you\u2019re running full-featured security software on your Mac, such as Kaspersky for macOS<\/a>.<\/p>\n
AI can create privacy risks you might never think to look for. You can read about more of them in our other posts:<\/p>\n