OpenAI has rolled out Computer History, a new feature in the ChatGPT Mac desktop app that logs your clicks, keystrokes, and app switches to build a searchable AI memory. The feature is now available globally for ChatGPT Pro, Business, and Enterprise users, except in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. However, OpenAI itself has flagged significant security concerns that users should understand before enabling this capability.

Computer History replaces an earlier research preview called Chronicle, which relied on periodic screenshots. The new system takes a different approach: instead of capturing screen images, it records interaction events such as mouse clicks, keystrokes, keyboard shortcuts, and app switches. OpenAI states that Computer History does not capture screenshots, screen recordings, microphone input, or system audio, and it excludes activity from private-mode browsing.

How Does Computer History Actually Work?

The feature operates through a multi-stage process that moves your data from your Mac to OpenAI's servers and back. Understanding these steps helps clarify where privacy and security concerns emerge.

• Data Capture: Computer History hooks into macOS accessibility APIs to log interaction events from apps and websites you allow, giving you control over which sources feed into the system.
• Local Storage: Interaction events are saved temporarily on your Mac within the ChatGPT App Group container for up to 48 hours before being deleted.
• Server Processing: During that 48-hour window, event files are sent to OpenAI servers where they are processed to generate memory summaries, which are then stored locally as plain-text Markdown files.
• Timeline Access: Generated memories appear in a timeline view grouped by day and time, allowing you to ask ChatGPT natural questions about your recent work and resume tasks where you left off.
• User Controls: You can pause and resume collection from the macOS menu bar, clear history from the last 10 minutes to all time, and permanently delete interaction events and their associated memories.

What Security Risks Does OpenAI Warn About?

OpenAI's own documentation flags two critical concerns that deserve serious attention from users considering this feature. The first involves prompt injection attacks, a technique where malicious websites embed hidden instructions that could trick ChatGPT into executing unintended actions or exposing personal data. Because Computer History feeds content from every allowed app and website directly into the model's context window, the attack surface expands substantially. Security researchers have previously demonstrated that ChatGPT's memory system can be exploited through prompt injection to exfiltrate sensitive information.

The second concern is equally troubling: Computer History stores generated memory files as unencrypted plain-text on your Mac. This means any other program running under your macOS user account could potentially read these files, exposing whatever sensitive information ChatGPT has summarized about your recent activity.

How Does Computer History Compare to Microsoft Recall?

Computer History enters a growing category of what industry observers call "observational AI," where AI systems passively monitor your desktop activity to build context. Microsoft's Recall is the most direct competitor, but the two features take fundamentally different approaches to the same problem.

Microsoft Recall captures screenshots every few seconds and processes everything locally on dedicated neural processing hardware within Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs. The data is encrypted using BitLocker and Windows Hello, and processing happens entirely on-device without sending raw data to Microsoft servers. Computer History, by contrast, skips screenshots entirely but sends raw event data to OpenAI servers for processing and stores generated memories as unencrypted plaintext files. Both features are opt-in, a lesson likely drawn from the significant backlash Microsoft faced when Recall was initially designed as opt-out.

The comparison reveals a core design trade-off. Recall's local processing approach reduces cloud dependency and keeps sensitive data on your device, but it requires specialized hardware. Computer History's server-side processing allows it to run on any Mac, but it introduces cloud transmission and relies on unencrypted local storage. For users concerned about privacy, Recall's approach appears more secure; for users prioritizing accessibility, Computer History's broader device compatibility may be more appealing.

Who Can Access Computer History Right Now?

Computer History is available exclusively to ChatGPT Pro, Business, and Enterprise users. Free and Plus subscribers do not have access. Business and Enterprise users need an administrator to explicitly grant workspace access before they can individually opt in. The feature's absence from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland suggests OpenAI is navigating regulatory concerns in those regions, a delay that hints at the privacy and data protection friction this kind of feature invites.

For a platform that now serves nearly one billion weekly active users, any new feature that records user behavior at this scale deserves scrutiny. Computer History is undeniably useful for resuming workflows and automating repeated tasks, but it is also a voluntary surveillance system that OpenAI itself warns comes with security risks. Users considering enabling this feature should weigh the convenience of persistent AI memory against the increased attack surface for prompt injection and the risk of unencrypted local files being read by other programs on their Mac.