AI can learn a lot about you, and it can also help you take your privacy back. This page puts my privacy guides in order. First you lock down the AI you use. Then you use AI to clean up what's out there about you. Then you protect the people you love. Every guide here is free.
The plan
- 1Lock down ChatGPT's memory and training settings.
- 2Set safe rules for AI agents and connected apps.
- 3Download a copy of your AI data.
- 4Find and remove your info from data broker sites.
- 5Clean up your search results and photos of you.
- 6Set up a family safe word.
Before you start
Your pace
Each step is its own guide. One a week is a great pace.
Your accounts
The AI apps you use, plus an email address you check often.
Your rule
Never paste passwords, card numbers or your Social Security number into a chat. Use the official form on the official site.
Lock Down ChatGPT
Start with the AI you probably use most. This checklist shows you what ChatGPT remembers about you, how to clean it up, how to stop your chats being used for training and which apps have access.
Set Safe Rules for AI Agents
How to Use ChatGPT and Claude Safely
AI can now click, send and change things for you. This guide shows you how to keep approvals on, give it only the access it needs and set rules it follows every time. Read it before you connect your email or anything with money in it.
Download Your AI Data
Export Your ChatGPT and Claude Data
Get a copy of everything you've told ChatGPT and Claude. It's a backup you control, and it shows you exactly what's stored. The ChatGPT export can take a while to arrive, so request it now and keep going.
Find Who's Selling Your Data
People-search sites collect your name, address and phone number and sell it to anyone. This guide helps you find the profiles about you, prepare opt-out requests you've checked yourself and track which ones actually get removed.
Erase Your Digital Footprint
ChatGPT Digital Footprint Cleanup
Go wider: more data brokers, removal requests ChatGPT writes for you, and a weekly check so your info doesn't creep back. Prefer Claude? Clean Up Your Digital Footprint does the same job with Claude, including cleaning up your Google results and drafting takedown requests.
Find Every Photo of You Online
Find Every Photo of You Online
Reverse image search your own face to see where your photos show up, then send takedown requests for the ones you didn't agree to.
Scam-Proof Your Family
Protect Your Family From AI Scams
AI can now clone a voice from a short clip. Set up a family safe word, learn the callback rule and use AI to check suspicious messages. Send this one to your parents.
Bonus: Find Your Old Online Accounts
Use Claude to dig up your oldest accounts, posts and archived pages, then delete the ones you don't want out there anymore.
If You Use Claude
The ChatGPT checklist in Step 1 is the most detailed, but Claude has privacy settings worth checking too:
- Memory: Go to Settings > Memory to see the topics Claude remembers. There's also an optional setting for sensitive topics.
- Incognito: Click the ghost icon at the top right of a new chat when you don't want it saved to your history.
- Export: Go to Settings > Privacy > Export data on the web or desktop app. Step 3 walks you through it.
Maverick's tip
Privacy isn't a one-time job. Once you've done the steps, put a reminder in your calendar every few months to recheck your AI settings and search your name again.
Quick Reference: Your Privacy Checklist
- Your AI: Steps 1 and 2. Memory, training and approvals.
- Your data: Step 3. Get a copy.
- Your info online: Steps 4 to 6. Data brokers, search results and photos.
- Your family: Step 7. A safe word everyone knows.
- Never in a chat: passwords, card numbers, your Social Security number.
DO THIS TODAY
Open the ChatGPT Privacy Checklist and check what ChatGPT remembers about you. Delete anything you don't want it to keep.