Do you use Snapchat's AI chatbot? Here's the data it's pulling from you
In April, Snap made its AI-powered chatbot, My AI, available to Snapchat users. The company says over 150 million users have talked to the chatbot. Snap says that its AI chatbot is equipped with more guardrails than ChatGPT, which should make it safer for younger Snapchatters.
Also: The best parental control apps
According to Statista, about 20% of global Snapchat users are between the ages of 13 and 17, so it's crucial that kids aren't exposed to inappropriate content that the chatbot could output. But in some experimental chats with the bot, users found that Snapchat's bot would explain how to engage in underage substance use and sexual activity.
When Snapchatters first started experimentally conversing with My AI, many were curious about the chatbot's access to their location. When My AI was asked if it had a user's location, it would promptly deny having access to geolocation data.
But if a user asked for a restaurant recommendation in their area, My AI could provide them, proving that the bot does have access to Snapchatters' location. People took to Twitter to express they were concerned by My AI and started to get curious about what user data the bot could access.
Also: Meta lowered the age limit for Quest accounts. Are those kids too young for exploring VR?
So, what data does My AI collect, and what does Snap do with it?
Location
My AI can access your location if you allow Snapchat to access your location. Snap says My AI doesn't collect any new location data from you and only pulls from the data you provided to Snapchat.
Also: Human or bot? This Turing test game puts your AI-spotting skills to the test
Some users enable a Snapchat feature called Ghost Mode that allows you to hide your location from your friends and remove you from the Snap Map. However, Ghost Mode does not ensure that My AI cannot access your location. Snap says that even with Ghost Mode on, My AI may access your location if you've granted location tracking permission to Snapchat.
Conversations
Snap stores your conversations with My AI until you manually delete them, but it can take up to 30 days for your conversation data with My AI to be removed from Snapchat servers. Snap uses your conversations with My AI to train the AI model and to better target you with personalized ads.
Also: How your kids can use ChatGPT safely, according to a mom
Snapchat's privacy policy states that all Snaps are deleted from Snapchat servers after all recipients view them. But Snap makes a clear distinction that the chats sent to My AI do not follow this guideline and are only deleted if you request Snapchat to delete them. It should be assumed that Snap retains any audio or photos you send to My AI and can only be deleted if you do it yourself.