Study finds popular AI chatbots share user conversations with ad trackers
European researchers discovered that six of the nine leading AI chatbots routinely expose user inputs to third-party advertising services.
A team of European researchers analyzed the nine most popular AI chatbots and found that six regularly transmit user inputs to third-party advertising and tracking platforms. Even users who reject non-essential cookies were still connected to services such as Google Ads, with bots including Perplexity, DeepSeek, Gemini, Copilot, ChatGPT and Claude exposing data. The study highlights that conversation titles and summaries can be shared with advertisers, potentially allowing profiling based on intimate health, financial or relationship queries.
Findings suggest conflicts with GDPR transparency requirements and the ePrivacy Directive’s consent rules. Specific cases noted that Grok automatically published conversation links, while TikTok processed screenshots of those chats, and Mistral offered no cookie-rejection option. Researchers warn that evolving cookie-less tracking methods could further erode user privacy.
Why it matters
It shows how AI assistants may violate privacy laws by sharing personal queries with advertisers.
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