Scammers can exploit your data from just 1 ChatGPT search

ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) have become amazing helpers for everyday tasks. Whether it's summarizing complex ideas, designing a birthday card or even planning your apartment's layout, you can get impressive results with just a simple prompt. But as helpful as these AI tools are, their convenience comes with hidden risks, especially when it comes to your personal privacy.

If you haven't tried an LLM like ChatGPT before, here's the gist: They're advanced language processors that chat with you through text. No special commands or coding needed, just type what you want to know or do, and they respond. For example, asking "Why is the conclave kept secret?" will get you a detailed explanation in seconds.

This simplicity is what makes LLMs so useful, but it also opens the door to risks. Instead of harmless questions, someone could ask for a detailed profile on a person, and the model might generate a surprisingly thorough report. While these tools have safeguards and often refuse certain requests, clever phrasing can sometimes bypass those limits.

Unfortunately, it doesn't take much effort for someone to use ChatGPT to gather personal information about you. But don't worry, there are ways to protect yourself from this kind of digital snooping.

These AI tools don't just pull information out of thin air. They need to access real online sources to work. In other words, your data is already out there on the internet; AI tools just make it easier to find. And if you look at the sources, most of the information you wouldn't want shared online, like your address, relatives and so on, is made public by people-search sites. Other sources include social media, like LinkedIn and Facebook, as well as public databases. But none of them are as invasive as people-search sites.

Let's see what you can do to limit how much of your information is exposed online.

To effectively safeguard your personal information from being exposed or misused, it's important to follow these steps and adopt key precautions.

Although not all people-search sites are required to offer it, most of them do provide an option to request an opt-out. But that comes with a few challenges.

Where to start: Identifying people-search sites that expose your personal information

There are hundreds of people-search sites registered in the U.S. Going through each and every one is, realistically speaking, impossible. You'll need to narrow your search somehow.

Using AI tools: How to find and list data broker sites with your personal data

Use AI tools and ask them to run a deep search on yourself. It's not a perfect or complete solution; LLMs tend to shorten their responses to save resources. But it will give you a good starting point, and if you keep asking for more results, you should be able to put together a decent list of people-search sites that might have your profile.

Submitting opt-out requests: How to remove your information from people-search sites

Data removal services are real-time and energy savers when it comes to protecting your personal information online. The way these services work is simple. They send hundreds of data removal requests on your behalf to people-search sites you might not even know exist but are still exposing your data. And with some services, the process goes even further than that.

People-search sites aren't the only places exposing your personal information without your knowledge. In fact, they're just a small part of the larger data broker industry.

There are marketing, health, financial, risk and many other types of data brokers trading your information. Your data is a commodity they use to make a profit, often without you even realizing it.

Data removal services have taken on the challenge of fighting this threat to your privacy. They continuously scour the web, looking for your profiles. This way, you can just sign up and let them handle the work in the background. And here's the best part: They take about 10 minutes to set up, roughly the same time it takes to opt out of a single people-search site.

Every removal service out there has limitations on the number of data brokers it supports. It's not about a lack of effort; it's mostly because brokers are generally unwilling to cooperate, to put it mildly. But there's a way to address this issue without going back to manual opt-outs. The top names in the data removal industry now offer custom removals. In simple terms, this means you can ask them to remove your personal information from websites not currently covered by their standard plans.

The catch is that you'll need to do the research yourself and point out which sites are exposing your data. It's not as convenient as having everything done automatically, but it's a relatively minor inconvenience for the sake of your online privacy.

Being mindful of the information you provide to AI tools is the first and most crucial step in protecting your privacy. Don't share sensitive details such as your full name, home address, financial information, passwords or any other personal data that could be used to identify or harm you or others.

Adjusting your social media privacy settings can greatly reduce the amount of personal information available to data brokers. Make your profiles private, limit who can see your posts and be selective about accepting friend or follower requests. Periodically audit your privacy settings and remove any unnecessary third-party app connections to further minimize your exposure.

Large language models like ChatGPT are transforming how we work, create and solve problems, but they also introduce new privacy and security risks that can't be ignored. As these tools become more powerful and accessible, it's up to each of us to take proactive steps to safeguard our personal information and understand where our data might be exposed. By staying alert and making use of available privacy tools, we can enjoy the benefits of AI while minimizing the risks.

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