- OPENAI has deleted the Chatppt function, allowing people to search in public conversations with a search engine
- Many users have learned too late that activation of the “discoverable” parameter could make cats accessible to anyone online
- The decision came after several people saw their sensitive and private information
OPENAI suddenly closed a functionality in Chatgpt which allowed publicly shared cats to be viewed via Google. Users were unpleasantly surprised to discover that private information shared with Chatgpt was now accessible to the public as a Google research result.
Dane Stuckey, OPENAI Information Security Director, announced the closure Thursday, with the deactivated feature on Friday morning. OPENAI also started rubbing the search engine indexes for previously shared conversations.
OPENAI designed the check box “Make This Link Discoverable”, on which they had clicked, to give more people access to potentially useful conversations between Chatgpt and various users. In practice, he opened the door to a new type of digital exhibition, where criminal denominations, personal secrets and corporate practices were only a few keywords to appear in Google research.
It was not an dark removal parameter hidden in a developer console. It was right there in the sharing menu of any conversation by chatgpt that users chose to transform into a public link. However, while Openai thought that the label was clear about what users did, many users apparently did not understand. They thought that the link would remain deprived or floodable unless explicitly sharing.
For the average person who uses Chatgpt to plan a resignation letter, to help a relationship or work on a legal strategy, it’s more than a technical hiccup. It is an intestinal control. If you have already shared a link to a conversation, there is a no void chance that someone found it with a Google search.
Some of the indexed conversations reported included internal assessments of employment candidates, sensitive disclosure of mental health, confessions of crime and the owner software code. People were talking to Chatgpt as if it were private, but for all those who switched this framework, this was not the case.
We have just deleted a functionality from @ChatgptApp that allowed users to make their conversations discoverable by search engines, such as Google. It was a short -lived experience to help people discover useful conversations. This functionality obliged users to oppose, first by choosing a conversation… Pic.twitter.com/mgi3LF05UAJuly 31, 2025
Consultable secrets
At the Openai Credit, the company quickly gained functionality. But the benefits raise important questions not only about confidentiality, but on the amount that users can reasonably understand the tools they use. The “discoverable” box was not hidden behind a wall, but it did not do an excellent job to communicate the scope of its consequences. It is one thing to share a link, but indexing it in global search engines indefinitely is something else.
This is fascinating what it says about how users behave with AI. They behave, test ideas, turn frustrations and write the things they would never type in a search bar. If you have already shared a chatgpt conversation, it is worth checking if this link is still live.
While Openai works with Google and other search engines to purge the content previously indexed, research robots have long memories. A certain content may persist for a while, even if it is deleted. Openai has disabled the functionality quickly, but the damage can already be caused for certain users.
Hopefully the lesson will stick to the public, as is the idea of not deleting the embarrassing stories of the navigator has moved from a joke common to something that only the most ignorant person would forget to do. The magic of tools like Chatgpt lies in the way they create the illusion of a conversation. But if you forget that it is always an illusion, you may not notice risks like buttons that send your heart to a digital heart directly on Google.
