ChatGPT’s Computer History tracks your clicks and keystrokes
| Source: The Verge AI
Tags: OpenAI, ChatGPT, macOS, privacy, computer use, Codex
OpenAI's ChatGPT macOS desktop app gains 'Computer History,' an opt-in feature that logs mouse clicks and keystrokes to build an activity timeline, letting ChatGPT and Codex recall tasks, find documents, and suggest automations — without capturing screenshots, unlike Windows Recall.
Details
ChatGPT's macOS desktop app has gained a new feature called Computer History, an opt-in activity tracker that records mouse clicks and keystrokes to build a personal timeline. The system feeds this timeline to ChatGPT and Codex, allowing them to reference past activity when responding to requests — such as finding the last document edited, checking if it was shared via Slack, or recapping how a user spent their morning. The feature is explicitly opt-in, and users can exclude specific apps and websites from tracking. OpenAI's Ari Weinstein confirmed incognito and private browser tabs are automatically excluded. Rather than screenshots, Computer History relies on 'events' — discrete interactions like clicks and keystrokes — which OpenAI frames as less invasive than image capture. The comparison to Windows Recall is unavoidable. Microsoft's controversial feature was paused and redesigned after public backlash over privacy concerns. OpenAI's version sidesteps the screenshot controversy but still raises questions about what data is retained, where it's stored, and whether it feeds model training. The Verge's framing is telling: 'It's still kind of creepy.' For enterprise environments, this feature will likely trigger immediate IT policy reviews, since keystroke and click logging — even when opt-in — raises compliance questions in regulated industries.