ChatGPT's new Computer History tracks your Mac activity to create a timeline - but should you let it?

OpenAI has launched a new feature called Computer History for its ChatGPT Mac app, which tracks your activities on apps and websites used on a Mac and creates a timeline for you. This feature is currently available for Pro, Business, and Enterprise accounts, and is rolling out globally with access in the UK, Switzerland, and the European Economic Area expected in the coming weeks. Computer History is an opt-in feature that replaces the previous Chronicle feature, offering improved privacy controls and using fewer tokens.

Instead of capturing your screen, Computer History records your interactions with apps and websites, including clicks, typing, keyboard shortcuts, app switches, and contextual information from MacOS's accessibility system. It then summarizes these events into memory files that you can access later in Finder or delete entirely. Users can ask ChatGPT questions based on this timeline, such as what they were working on before a break or creating task summaries.

To use Computer History, enable it in the ChatGPT Mac app's Settings, select Integrations, and then turn on the feature. Review the privacy and permission details and choose which apps and websites to include in the history. Computer History files are not encrypted, which could potentially expose sensitive information to hackers.

OpenAI has implemented opt-in, app selection, pause and resume options, and the ability to clear history to address privacy concerns. However, users should still exercise caution and exclude unwanted sources, as well as secure their Macs before enabling the feature.