ChatGPT’s Mac Activity Recorder Is Now Available in Europe, but Privacy Questions Remain
OpenAI has expanded its Mac activity recording feature for ChatGPT to users in Europe. The feature, known as Computer History, was previously unavailable in the region, but as of August 20 it has been enabled for the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Computer History is part of the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS. It is designed to help ChatGPT remember what you were doing on your Mac so it can provide more useful assistance later. That includes helping with ongoing tasks, improving context in conversations, and allowing OpenAI’s coding agent Codex to refer back to relevant activity.
However, the feature also comes with important privacy and security considerations, especially because it can collect detailed interaction data from your computer.
Computer History records activity events from your Mac. This can include clicks, typing, switching between apps, and text or context made available through macOS accessibility permissions. OpenAI says the feature uses this information to create short summaries and a timeline that ChatGPT can reference later.
It does not record screenshots, microphone input, or system audio. Private browsing activity is also excluded and does not appear in the recorded history.
The feature is not enabled automatically. Users must manually turn it on inside the ChatGPT Mac app. To find it, open Settings, go to Integrations, and then choose Computer history.
There are also account requirements. You need a ChatGPT Pro, Business, or Enterprise plan, and Memories must be enabled. For Business and Enterprise users, a workspace administrator must first allow the feature. Even after that, each user still has to opt in personally.
OpenAI also gives users some control over what gets recorded. You can pause collection at any time from the ChatGPT icon in the macOS menu bar. You can also choose which apps and websites are allowed to contribute data to Computer History.
Still, OpenAI’s own documentation highlights several risks.
First, the stored files may contain sensitive information. OpenAI says Computer History files are not encrypted, and other programs running under the same macOS user account may be able to read them. Temporary event files are deleted after 48 hours, but the memories created from them remain stored locally as plain text until the user deletes them.
Second, OpenAI warns users to switch the feature off when communicating with other people unless they have their prior express consent. If left on, conversations from messaging apps, emails, or video calls could be included in summaries.
Third, the feature increases the risk of prompt injection. This is when hidden instructions inside a website, document, or app are picked up by an AI system and followed without the user realizing it. Because Computer History can gather context from apps and web pages, it may expose ChatGPT to more of these hidden instructions.
Most of the recording happens locally on the Mac. However, OpenAI says the temporary event files are sent to its servers to generate summaries. According to the company, those temporary files are not retained afterward and are not used for model training.
The situation changes when a completed memory is later used in a ChatGPT conversation. Depending on your ChatGPT data settings, that chat may be used to improve OpenAI’s models.
For users who want stronger continuity in ChatGPT and better help with ongoing work, Computer History could be useful. It may help the assistant understand what you were doing without needing to explain everything manually.
But for anyone handling confidential documents, private conversations, client data, workplace material, or sensitive personal information, the feature needs careful consideration. Since some stored data may remain as plain text and is not encrypted by the feature itself, users should review their app and website permissions closely before enabling it.
In short, ChatGPT’s Mac activity recorder is now available in Europe, but it is not a feature to turn on casually. It offers more context and convenience, but also expands the amount of personal and work-related information that ChatGPT may be able to access.
