OpenAI Adds PIN and Biometric Lock Feature for Private ChatGPT Chats

OpenAI announced on Tuesday that users can now lock ChatGPT conversations to keep sensitive chats private when other people have access to their phone or device. Users can protect their locked chats using a four-digit PIN, or by using Face ID or Touch ID on supported devices. Unlike temporary chats, which give users a separate session that does not show up in chat history, users can go back to their locked chats at any time. OpenAI designed this feature for moments when people talk about personal topics or plan a surprise, and want to keep those talks private if they hand their phone to friends or family to show them something else. Once a user locks a chat, the app moves it to a special locked chats section away from regular chat history, pinned chats, and search results. If a user has memory turned on, the locked chats section has its own separate memory that is shared only across chats in that folder. New messages sent inside locked chats can update that specific memory, but they do not update regular memory, which stops new private details from leaking into normal chats. OpenAI also noted that resetting a PIN will permanently delete all locked chats, files, and content that was protected by the old PIN. Furthermore, the lock option does not work on temporary chats, archived chats, group chats, shared link chats, chats with scheduled tasks, and chats with meeting recordings.

Limits And Plan Access

While locking a chat limits who can look at the screen, it does not fix concerns about how sensitive data is stored or handled. OpenAI stated that locking a chat does not create end-to-end encryption or a separate encrypted vault, does not change how long the company keeps the chat, does not remove info that ChatGPT remembered before the chat was locked, and does not change the model improvement setting. The new feature is rolling out to users on Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans, but it is not available on ChatGPT for Healthcare.

Context

As artificial intelligence tools become common for everyday personal writing and private brainstorming, users increasingly demand digital privacy controls similar to banking or photo apps. Device-level security checks like PINs and biometric scans help stop friends or family from reading private messages when a phone is shared briefly.