ChatGPT for Android may soon get session resume support, UI tweaks and new profile features. (Express Photo)OpenAI has updated its privacy policy to indicate that it would share “limited information” about users with third-party players to promote its services like ChatGPT and Codex on other websites.In other words, OpenAI will be using cookies to market its services outside its own platforms. For context, cookies are packets of information that allow websites and advertisers to identify individual web surfers and track their browsing habits, but they can also be used for unwanted surveillance.However, OpenAI has emphasised that user chats will not be shared with third parties and continue to remain private. “This does not impact your conversations in ChatGPT. Your conversations with ChatGPT are private and are not shared with marketing partners,” the AI startup said on Thursday, April 30.Users were reportedly informed about OpenAI’s new privacy policy change in an email. It appears that the updated privacy policy is currently applicable for users in the United States, and seems to be targeted at converting free users and seeing how effective its ads are at conversions.The privacy policy update comes as OpenAI looks to expand its own advertising network inside ChatGPT. Earlier this year, the company started rolling out ads at the bottom of ChatGPT outputs for US users. AI rivals such as Google are also exploring displaying ads within its generative AI products and services.Also Read | India tops ChatGPT Images 2.0 users as AI visuals go mainstream“Nothing about our policy of not sharing people’s conversations or other private user content with advertisers has changed. Like many companies, OpenAI works with select marketing partners to help people learn about our products on third-party websites and apps, and we updated our privacy policy to clarify how this works,” OpenAI spokesperson Taya Christianson was quoted as saying by Wired.“We do not share your conversations with these marketing partners. To make OpenAI marketing efforts more relevant and measure their effectiveness, we may share limited identifiers, such as cookie IDs or device IDs, and users can opt out at any time in settings,” they added.Story continues below this adWhat does OpenAI’s new privacy policy say?In the Disclosure of Personal Data section of the updated privacy policy, OpenAI has detailed how it discloses personal data. Identifiers such as users’ email addresses or cookie IDs may be shared with advertising platforms, as per the updated policy. This will likely allow OpenAI to check whether users have taken specific actions like signing up for its Codex AI coding assistant after they get shown an ad for it on Instagram.OpenAI’s updated privacy policy follows, with the changes reflected in italics:We disclose your Personal Data in the following circumstances:Vendors, Service Providers, and Marketing Partners: To assist us in meeting business operations needs and to perform certain services and functions, we disclose Personal Data to vendors, service providers, and marketing partners, including providers of hosting services, customer service vendors, cloud services, content delivery services, support and safety services, email communication software, web analytics services, payment and transaction processors, search and shopping providers, and information technology providers. We also work with service providers who help us with age and identity verification, and you can learn more here. When we work with Service Providers, these parties will access, process, or store Personal Data based on our instructions and only in the course of performing their duties to us. We also share limited information with select marketing partners who are not service providers in order to promote our products and services on third-party properties and help us assess the effectiveness of those efforts. Some of these partners may receive information through cookies and similar technologies. Learn more about these practices and the choices available to you here.Also Read | ChatGPT ads go live: OpenAI tests sponsored responses with select brandsHere, personal data is categorised by OpenAI as birth dates, payment information, and any prompts a user might have written. The company emphasises that it does not use this information to infer characteristics about users.Story continues below this adHow to opt outWhile news reports suggest that the marketing settings on ChatGPT are ‘on’ by default, follow these steps to opt out of this kind of tracking:-Visit the web version of ChatGPT-Go to Settings > Data Controls > Marketing Privacy-Set the toggle to ‘off’