Is ChatGPT safe for personal information? What happens to what you type and what Swiss law says
It depends on what you type and how you set up your account. OpenAI’s privacy policy for the EEA, UK and Switzerland (24 August 2026) says no internet transmission is ever fully secure; on personal accounts your chats may be used to train the models unless you switch that option off, and deleted chats are scheduled for permanent removal within 30 days, with exceptions. According to the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) the data protection act, in force since 1 September 2023, applies to AI too, and it advises giving up a service whose conditions you do not accept or, where possible, removing personal data before you type.
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Get Rappn, freeThere is no single yes or no: the risk depends on what you type, your plan and your settings. On personal accounts, for example, OpenAI may use your chats to train its models until you switch the option off (Help Center, viewed in October 2026). Before you paste spending or budget data, remove anything that identifies you or other people and check the settings.
Updated October 2026. Sources: OpenAI, privacy policy for the EEA, UK and Switzerland (24 August 2026), Help Center articles on data controls, temporary chat, memory, deleting chats and ads; FDPIC, “Real examples of artificial intelligence (AI) in everyday life”, the update of 8 May 2025 and “Right to information”; Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), SR 235.1 (viewed on 13 October 2026).
Is ChatGPT safe for personal information?
It depends on the type of data: the more it identifies you or other people, the more caution it needs. Under Swiss law, personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (art. 5 lit. a FADP): a name, but also an address, a card number or a combination of details that leads to you.
OpenAI describes commercially reasonable technical, administrative and organisational measures, but warns that no internet transmission is ever fully secure. Any online service can have security incidents, and vendors report them on their own pages. The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) advises checking a service’s conditions and, if you do not accept them, giving it up or, where possible, removing personal data before you enter it into an AI programme.
This is Rappn’s spending view: purchases are sorted by category and by month, a base you can export as PDF or CSV before any analysis.
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What happens to the data you type into ChatGPT?
| Topic | What OpenAI documents | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Training | Content may be used to train the models. With “Improve the model for everyone” switched off, new conversations are no longer used; a thumbs up or down can still make the whole conversation usable | Settings > Data controls, or “Do not train on my content” in the Privacy Portal |
| Temporary chat | While it stays temporary: no history, no memories created or updated, no model improvement; OpenAI may keep a copy for up to 30 days for safety purposes | New chat > Temporary |
| Memory | When it is on, ChatGPT can remember details from your chats; deleting a chat does not necessarily delete a saved memory | Settings > Personalization > Memory |
| Deleted chats | They disappear from your account at once; permanent deletion is scheduled within 30 days, unless the data is already de-identified or must be kept for security or legal reasons | Chat menu |
| Processing | For people in Switzerland the controller is OpenAI Ireland Limited; data is processed on servers outside Switzerland, the EEA and the UK, including in the United States | Privacy policy, sections 10 and 12 |
| Ads | Ads are possible on the Free and Go plans, not on Plus and Pro; OpenAI writes that it does not share conversations with advertisers and that personalised ads are not initially available in the EEA or Switzerland | Settings > Ads controls |
Business accounts have their own rules: by default OpenAI does not use the content of Business, Enterprise and Edu for training, but in an Enterprise or business account administrators can access members’ content. If you sign up with your employer’s email address, OpenAI may tell the organisation that you have an account. Connected apps (see MCP server and connectors) widen what ChatGPT can read, and disconnecting them does not delete past conversations.
What should you never share with an AI assistant?
| Data | Share it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Name, address, phone, email, date of birth, ID card, passport, AHV/AVS (old-age insurance) number | No | They identify you, and no grocery question needs them |
| IBAN, card number and security code, e-banking, passwords, PIN | Never | They are financial data and credentials: whoever has them can act in your name |
| Health: diagnoses, medicines, pharmacy lines | No | Sensitive personal data (art. 5 lit. c no. 2 FADP), as the FDPIC notes |
| Data about other people: children, relatives, colleagues, clients | Not without a good reason | They did not choose this; at work, confidentiality duties and your employer’s rules may apply |
| Photos of receipts or documents | Check what shows | They can show a name, a loyalty card or part of a card number: crop or cover it |
| Month, category and amount in CHF, without a name | Lower risk | They do not identify you alone, but with AI even pseudonymised or anonymised data can be linked back to a person (FDPIC) |
An assistant that buys for you needs even more caution: see the checklist for AI shopping agents.
What does Swiss law say about personal data and AI?
The Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP, SR 235.1), in force since 1 September 2023, also applies to AI: the FDPIC wrote this on 9 November 2023 and repeated it on 8 May 2025. The FADP applies to circumstances that have an effect in Switzerland, even if they were initiated abroad (art. 3 para. 1).
According to the FDPIC the act is technology-neutral: manufacturers, providers and users must make the purpose, functioning and data sources of AI processing transparent, and people who talk to a language model have the right to know whether their inputs are used to improve the programmes or for other purposes. In general you can:
- ask a provider whether it processes data about you: the right to information (art. 25) is free in principle and the information must, as a rule, be provided within 30 days (FDPIC page);
- ask for the data you disclosed in a common electronic format, under certain conditions (art. 28);
- ask for incorrect data to be corrected (art. 32 para. 1) and, through a civil action, for a processing to be prohibited or the data deleted (art. 32 para. 2);
- report a suspicion to the FDPIC, which opens an investigation if there are sufficient indications of a possible violation (art. 49 para. 1) and which OpenAI’s privacy policy names as the authority for people in Switzerland.
These are general pointers, not legal advice: a concrete case depends on the circumstances.
How can you use AI for groceries and budgets without exposing your data?
Prepare a minimal table, set up the account before you paste anything, and check the results.
- Pick only the data you really need. For totals, month, category and amount in CHF are enough; for a list, items and quantities (AI grocery list).
- Remove what identifies you. Delete names, addresses, card numbers, IBANs, loyalty card numbers and pharmacy lines; write “Zurich” and “evening” instead of the branch and the time.
- Set up the account. Open a temporary chat or switch off “Improve the model for everyone”, check Memory and use a private account for private questions, not your work one.
- Paste only the table and recheck the sums: OpenAI’s privacy policy says not to rely on the factual accuracy of what the models produce.
- Delete at the end the chat, any saved memories and files uploaded separately.
Ready-made prompts are in the guide to analysing grocery spending with AI. If you would rather use no assistant at all, you can also track your spending without a bank connection.
How can you do it today with your receipts?
First step, today: put a month of receipts into a table with date, category and amount. If you would rather do fewer sums, there is Rappn, a free Swiss app (iOS and Android) that compares the current promotions of seven Swiss retailers and turns receipts into a spending overview. You photograph a receipt, upload it from your gallery or enter a purchase by hand; the app sorts your purchases into categories and shows your spending by month, next to your own monthly average. You export your receipts as PDF or CSV and delete the columns you do not need before you paste anything into an assistant. Rappn covers groceries, not rent, insurance or taxes. Rappn is building an AI assistant for groceries: you can join the waitlist.
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Why Rappn?
Rappn is an independent grocery price comparison app in Switzerland, with no commercial agreements with any retailer. Our comparisons are truly independent.
- 100% free: no subscription, no hidden costs
- Neutral: no commercial agreements with Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Aligro, or Otto’s
- Updated daily, as soon as the chains publish their deals
- The chains’ deals in one place: search, filter, compare, no subscription
- Meal planner in the Kitchen tab: plan the week, send the ingredients to your list
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is ChatGPT safe for my personal information?
It depends on what you type and how you set up your account. OpenAI’s privacy policy for the EEA, UK and Switzerland (24 August 2026) warns that no internet transmission is ever fully secure, and the FDPIC advises checking a service’s conditions and, if you do not accept them, giving it up or, where possible, removing personal data before you enter it into an AI programme.
Does ChatGPT use my chats for training?
On personal accounts it can: according to OpenAI’s Help Center (viewed in October 2026), your content may be used to train the models while “Improve the model for everyone” is on under Settings > Data controls. If you switch it off, new conversations are no longer used, but a thumbs up or thumbs down can make the whole conversation usable; a temporary chat is not used to improve models while it stays temporary.
Can I delete my ChatGPT chats?
Yes: you delete one chat from its menu, or all chats under Settings > Data controls. According to OpenAI’s Help Center (viewed in October 2026), the chat disappears from your account at once and is scheduled for permanent deletion within 30 days, unless the data is already de-identified or must be kept for security or legal reasons; saved memories and separately uploaded files have to be deleted on their own.
What does Swiss law say about AI and personal data?
The Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), in force since 1 September 2023, also applies to AI-based processing, according to the FDPIC (9 November 2023, repeated on 8 May 2025). In general you can ask a provider whether it processes data about you: the right to information (art. 25 FADP) is free in principle and the information must, as a rule, be provided within 30 days.
Can I analyse my receipts with AI?
Yes, if you prepare a table with month, category and amount and remove names, addresses, card and loyalty card numbers and pharmacy lines. Prompts and checks for the totals are in the guide “How to analyse your grocery spending with AI”.