Tell HN: Your ChatGPT account can be deactivated at any moment, losing your data

6 pointsby try-working2 hours ago1 comment

latexran hour ago
> Everyone should be aware that if you use OpenAI (or Anthropic), they can shut off your access at any time and you will not be able to access your data.
It’s a bit surprising that that continues to be a surprise, but I’m glad more people are becoming aware of it. That is true of most corporations, doubly so those created under a system which values and protects “innovation” (as they call it) which essentially means “fuck users, fuck other people, fuck the environment, fuck the rest of the world, and fuck regulation, the only thing that matters is my own personal profit”.
No, you can’t trust OpenAI, or Anthropic, or Google, or Microsoft, or Apple, or, or, or to not deactivate your account and prevent your access to your data on a whim. They’ve all done it before (though some are worse than others) and they’ll all do it again until there are big enough consequences.
If you are in the EU or California or somewhere with data protection laws, maybe you can plead your case to at least get back your data.
- try-workingan hour ago
  This is the first time I've had an account closed (30+ years) so my feeling is that these AI firms are even less dependable than Google and Microsoft. Especially as we see them constantly changing around their T&C around their plans.
  I think we need a to be aware that it's fine to buy tokens from them, but they are NOT a place to store data. Never ever trust these companies with any of your data. Not your code, not your research, not your writing. Nothing. Let them be a dumb pipe into your systems. They don't deserve better.