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The Assurance Desk

ChatGPT saved most memories without being asked, study finds

Memory makes ChatGPT more useful, and this study shows how much of it happens without a request from the user.

ChatGPT created 96% of the memories it kept about users without being asked, a study of 2,050 memories has found. Researchers in Germany and the Netherlands first published it on 1 February 2026. The paper has been accepted at The ACM Web Conference 2026.

ChatGPT made most memories on its own

The researchers looked at 2,050 memory entries from 80 ChatGPT users. Only 4% of the memories, 84 in all, came from a user asking. ChatGPT started the other 96%.

They counted a memory as asked for when the user's message used words such as remember, save or forget.

Most memories matched the conversation. 84% came straight from something the user had said.

What the 2,050 memories in the study held

  • Created by ChatGPT, not asked for 96%
  • Grounded in what the user said 84%
  • Psychological insights 52%
  • GDPR-defined personal data 28%
  • Special category data 7%
Chart values
What the 2,050 memories in the study held
Measure%
Created by ChatGPT, not asked for96%
Grounded in what the user said84%
Psychological insights52%
GDPR-defined personal data28%
Special category data7%
Share of all 2,050 memory entries from 80 users. One memory can fall into more than one group, so the bars are not parts of one whole.

About half the memories were about the person

52% of the memories held psychological insights about the user. 28% held personal data as the GDPR defines it.

7% held special category data. 35% of the users had health information saved in their memory.

The sample is small. The users came through Prolific and were mainly in the United States and Europe. The authors say their methods, which used AI models to label the data, are imperfect.

OpenAI says memory can save useful context

OpenAI's help page says saved memories are details you ask ChatGPT to remember, or details it saves as useful context.

It also says sensitive information can appear in memory if you share it with ChatGPT.

The paper describes OpenAI's policy as not storing sensitive data, such as health information, unless the user asks.

For UK organisations, the usual rules apply

The UK GDPR gives some personal data extra protection, and health data is one of the special categories.

The ICO has answered questions about AI tools at work. Privacy notices should say how a tool is used. Outputs must be checked for accuracy. Special category data needs a second condition under Article 9 of the UK GDPR.

Workspace owners and admins can manage the memory settings their plan supports.

Checking ChatGPT memory today

  • Open Settings, then Personalization, then Memory, and read what is there.
  • Ask ChatGPT what it remembers about you.
  • Delete a saved memory itself. Deleting the chat alone may not remove it.
  • Use a temporary chat when you do not want memories made.
Steps from OpenAI's help page. Controls vary by plan, region, platform and workspace.

What happens next

The ICO's guidance on special category data is under review because of the Data (Use and Access) Act.

The researchers also built a tool, Attribution Shield, that warns before a question reveals something sensitive and suggests a safer wording.

Read next

Sources

  1. arXiv, The Algorithmic Self-Portrait: Deconstructing Memory in ChatGPT (abstract page), checked 21 October 2026
  2. arXiv, The Algorithmic Self-Portrait: Deconstructing Memory in ChatGPT (full paper), checked 21 October 2026
  3. OpenAI Help Center, Memory in ChatGPT, checked 21 October 2026
  4. ICO, What is special category data?, checked 21 October 2026
  5. ICO, Previously asked questions, checked 21 October 2026

This is an independent editorial guide, not legal advice.