IMY warns young AI users: Your chats could become public

Sweden's Data Protection Authority (IMY) is issuing a stark warning to young AI users: the perceived anonymity of chatbot conversations is often a facade, and personal disclosures could inadvertently become public.

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It's difficult to grasp, especially for a child.

IMY notes a growing trend of young people confiding their most personal problems to AI, treating it as a form of digital confidant or even a substitute psychologist. However, the authority highlights that these conversations are frequently used to train language models. A recent report indicates that nearly 100,000 users have had their chats inadvertently made public this year alone due to user mistakes.

"It's difficult to grasp, especially for a child," said Rebecka Ingelman, a legal expert at IMY, emphasizing the potential for misunderstanding the storage and use of sensitive information. The authority urges users to assume that any information entered into AI services could be used for mapping their profiles. They stress that communication with some AI tools may occur without encryption, increasing the risk of unauthorized access.

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We wrote the blog post to spread knowledge about young people's use of AI.

IMY's advice is clear: users should consider whether they would publicly post the information they share with an AI. If they wouldn't share it publicly, they should not share it with an AI. This principle is crucial as a recent survey revealed that 63% of young AI users in Sweden are unaware of what happens to their written input, and 54% use AI to discuss personal and intimate problems.

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Had you published the information publicly on the internet? Are you comfortable with anyone reading the information? If not, you should not share it with AI.