ChatGPT now lets you lock your chats
TechCrunch Aisha Malik
ChatGPT can now lock specific chats with a PIN, Face ID, or Touch ID. It’s for private moments—but it doesn’t make those chats end-to-end encrypted.
Based on reporting by TechCrunch, Aisha Malik — read the original for the full story.
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OpenAI is adding a simple but useful privacy layer to ChatGPT: users can now lock individual conversations so they stay out of sight when someone else is near their phone or screen. A four-digit PIN does the job, and on supported devices, Face ID or Touch ID can too.
The company is pitching this as a practical feature for very human situations. Maybe you’re planning a surprise. Maybe you’re asking something personal and then hand your device to a friend or family member to show them a different chat. Locked chats are meant to stay private without forcing you into a separate temporary session.
Once a chat is locked, it gets moved into its own Locked Chats section. It sits apart from regular history, pinned chats, and search results. And if Memory is on, that section gets its own memory, shared across chats inside Locked Chats but not with the rest of your account. New messages there can update that separate memory, while leaving regular Memory alone.
OpenAI is also being clear about what this does not do. Locking a chat does not create end-to-end encryption or a separate encrypted vault. It does not change retention, erase anything ChatGPT had already remembered before the lock, or touch the “Improve the model for everyone” setting. Resetting the PIN wipes all locked chats, files, and other content protected by the old PIN.
The feature is rolling out on Tuesday, though not everyone will see it right away. It will be available on Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans, but not on ChatGPT for Healthcare. It also won’t work for temporary chats, archived chats, group chats, shared-link chats, chats with scheduled tasks, or chats with meeting recordings.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is the right kind of privacy feature: small, obvious, and not pretending to be more secure than it is. OpenAI gets points for drawing a line between convenience and real encryption, which is more honesty than the industry usually manages. A PIN is not a vault, but at least it’s not being sold as one.
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