Kempt
In short
It depends on the paper and on your settings.On personal plans, ChatGPT and Gemini may use your chats to improve their models unless you turn that off, Claude asks you to choose, and a sample of Gemini chats is read by human reviewers. Payslips, IDs and tax notices carry numbers you can’t change. Turn training off, black out what the question doesn’t need, or keep the papers on your Mac and use an on-device app.
Without any app
Turn off training first
ChatGPT: Settings › Data controls › turn off “Improve the model for everyone”. Claude: Settings › Privacy › turn off “Model Improvement”. Gemini: Settings & help › Activity › turn off Keep Activity. Each change applies to new chats, not to what you already sent.
Use the private mode for one-off questions
ChatGPT’s Temporary Chat isn’t used for training and is kept up to 30 days for safety. Claude’s incognito chats are never used to improve Claude. Gemini keeps temporary chats with your account for 72 hours.
Remove what the question doesn’t need
To ask about a payslip’s net pay, the AI needs neither your social security number nor your IBAN. In Preview, cover them with a filled rectangle (Tools › Annotate › Rectangle, then a solid fill), then File › Export as JPEG or PNG. Exporting flattens the page; a shape left on a PDF can be lifted off and the number read underneath.
Never upload some things
Full ID scans, passport pages, card numbers, passwords and medical files. Spain’s data protection agency (AEPD) advises leaving out your DNI or NIE and using made-up examples; France’s CNIL advises sharing no personal data you aren’t allowed to share.
Delete when you’re done
Deleted chats leave ChatGPT and Claude within 30 days, unless kept for legal or safety reasons. In Gemini, chats picked for human review are kept up to three years and aren’t deleted with your activity.
| Assistant | Used for training? | Setting | Private mode | After you delete |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Free, Plus, Pro | Yes, on by default | Data controls › Improve the model for everyone | Temporary Chat, kept up to 30 days | Removed within 30 days |
| Claude Free, Pro, Max | You choose | Privacy › Model Improvement | Incognito, never used for training | Within 30 days; up to 5 years de-identified if training is on |
| Gemini apps | Yes, Keep Activity on by default (18+) | Settings & help › Activity › Keep Activity | Temporary chat, kept 72 hours | Human-reviewed chats kept up to 3 years |
| ChatGPT and Claude for work (Team, Enterprise) | No, by default | Set by your company | — | Usually 30 days |
From OpenAI, Anthropic and Google’s help pages. Policies change: check your own settings.
With Kempt
- 1
Answers without uploading
Ask (Control-Option-Space) answers from your papers on your Mac with Apple’s on-device model and shows the page the answer came from. “What’s my IBAN?” lists each account with its bank and source document, checked with the IBAN checksum. No account, nothing uploaded.
- 2
Copies that share less
When someone asks for papers, Share less blacks out the French social security number and the IBAN on payslip copies and cuts a US Social Security number to its last 4 digits. The page becomes an image, and each copy is read back before it can be attached.
- 3
If you do want an AI app
In the edition from usekempt.app, Claude Code can ask Kempt over MCP (off by default). Reading a paper needs your yes in the notch, private numbers arrive hidden, and Settings › Intelligence › AI apps lists every recent access.
$27 once, 14 days freeRuns on every Apple silicon MacA question? Ask a person
Questions people ask
Does ChatGPT keep the files I upload?
Uploaded files belong to the chat. On personal plans they may be used for training unless “Improve the model for everyone” is off, and deleting the chat removes them within 30 days, except where OpenAI must keep data for legal or safety reasons.
Is it safe to ask ChatGPT to read my payslip?
Safer with training off and the identifying numbers removed first. The AI only needs the figures your question is about.
Is Claude more private than ChatGPT?
On personal plans Claude asks you whether to allow training and keeps chats 30 days if you don’t; ChatGPT has training on until you turn it off. Both remove deleted chats within 30 days. Neither runs on your Mac.
Should I give an AI a copy of my passport?
Avoid it. A passport scan can’t be changed if it leaks. If a task really needs an identity detail, type only that detail, or keep the document on your Mac.
Does Apple Intelligence send my documents to Apple?
Kempt uses Apple’s on-device model, which runs on the Mac. Other Apple Intelligence features may use Apple’s Private Cloud Compute for larger requests; Kempt’s naming and answers don’t.
Does ChatGPT remember my documents?
With Memory on, ChatGPT can save details from chats. Deleting a chat doesn’t delete a memory saved from it: check Settings › Personalization › Memory.
Does Temporary Chat use my memories?
No. A Temporary Chat doesn’t use or create memories and doesn’t appear in your history.
Can I upload a bank statement to ChatGPT?
Safer with training off and account numbers removed first. Ask about the figures, not the whole statement.