Is sharing health data with ChatGPT worth the risk?

OpenAI has begun rolling out Health in ChatGPT, a feature that lets users connect Apple Health data and medical records directly to the chatbot, in exchange for handing sensitive personal information to another company.

The feature is live for logged-in users 18 and older across Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans.

How does the ChatGPT health feature work?

Once connected, ChatGPT can compare lab results over time, summarise what's changed since a medical appointment, and spot patterns in sleep, exercise, and daily activity. Users can link Apple Health, records from supported US hospital systems, One Medical, and Function Health, along with data shared through fitness and wearable apps, though some proprietary scores may not carry over.

OpenAI says more than 300 million people already ask ChatGPT health-related questions each week, and the company positions the new integration as a way to cut down on repeatedly re-uploading the same documents.

According to OpenAI, the connected medical records as well as Apple Health data will not be used to train the foundation model or target ads, and all communications are encrypted both in transit and at rest, with added encryption of health data.

The ChatGPT seeks permission prior to using connected health data, and the data is deleted within 30 days from disconnecting, although the data which has already been collected and stored in previous conversations remains in use until deleted by users.

Nonetheless, permission settings cannot affect the fact that the data has already left the Apple ecosystem after being connected.

Siri itself, running on iOS 27, is capable of handling numerous health queries directly on the device or using the Private Cloud Compute approach that transmits only the necessary information regarding a particular query to Apple servers without any access from third-party organisations.

It becomes relevant due to the ongoing conflict between these two companies: Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and two of its ex-workers, Tang Yew Tan and Chang Liu, on July 10 for stealing their trade secrets associated with OpenAI's hardware plans, which are rejected by OpenAI.

Nevertheless, they continue to collaborate as business partners, as ChatGPT is still integrated into Apple Intelligence.