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OpenAI’s Chronicle Uses Screen Context in Codex, Raising Privacy and Security Concerns

· Original article ↗

Summary

OpenAI’s opt-in Chronicle preview for Codex captures screen activity to build contextual memories. The article describes its processing and deletion practices, pause controls, unencrypted local memory files, and potential prompt-injection exposure.

Key points

  • Chronicle is an opt-in research preview for ChatGPT Pro subscribers using the Codex app on macOS; it requires Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions.
  • It captures recent screen activity so Codex can identify relevant files, messages, documents, dashboards, and pull requests.
  • Selected frames are processed through an ephemeral Codex session on OpenAI’s servers; local screen captures older than six hours are automatically deleted while Chronicle is active.
  • The resulting memories are saved locally as unencrypted markdown files and can be inspected or modified.
  • Users can pause Chronicle for sensitive content; OpenAI warns that on-screen content may increase exposure to prompt-injection attacks.
  • OpenAI says screen captures are not retained on its servers after processing unless required by law, and are not used for training; the article says memories may be used to improve models depending on settings.

Article Details

Event Type
Opt-in macOS research preview of a screen-context feature for Codex
Impact
Chronicle captures screen activity and uses selected frames to generate contextual memories. Screen captures are stored temporarily on the user’s computer, with captures older than six hours deleted while the feature is active; selected frames are processed through ephemeral Codex sessions on OpenAI’s servers. Memories are saved locally as unencrypted markdown and may be included in future sessions or used to improve OpenAI’s models, depending on settings. OpenAI warns that on-screen content may increase prompt-injection exposure and that screen captures can include sensitive information. Users can pause the feature.

Vendors

OpenAIOpenAI’s Chronicle captures recent screen activity to build contextual memories so the Codex coding assistant can interpret references, identify relevant sources, and understand users’ tools and workflows without

Products

ChatGPT ProThe opt-in macOS research preview for ChatGPT Pro stores temporary screen captures locally, processes selected frames through ephemeral Codex sessions, and includes pause controls and privacy considerations such asChronicleOpenAI’s Chronicle captures recent screen activity to build contextual memories so the Codex coding assistant can interpret references, identify relevant sources, and understand users’ tools and workflows withoutCodexOpenAI’s Chronicle captures recent screen activity to build contextual memories so the Codex coding assistant can interpret references, identify relevant sources, and understand users’ tools and workflows without

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