ChatGPT Discloses User's Old Phone Number from FTC PDF
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- ChatGPT supplied the author’s former phone number and address from a 2016 FTC FOIA PDF, noting it could not verify if the number was still current.
- Grok refused to provide the author’s phone number, acknowledging the request was for the author’s own number and labeling it a life‑or‑death situation.
- Claude declined to share the phone number, warning that exposing private contact details raises serious privacy concerns.
- Perplexity censored the author’s email, refused to give the phone number, but disclosed the author’s Signal username.
- Gemini refused to reveal the author’s phone number, redirected to the author’s professional and personal email addresses, and correctly identified the owner of a public number (Matt Novak).
- MIT Technology Review highlighted similar incidents, noting a software developer in Israel received spam calls after Gemini disclosed his number, indicating a broader pattern of AI chatbots leaking real phone numbers.
Why it matters: Users risk exposing outdated personal contact info when AI models like ChatGPT pull data from publicly filed documents, while competing chatbots that block such requests protect privacy. The contrast highlights a tangible privacy vulnerability that could affect anyone whose data appears in online records, prompting scrutiny of AI data handling practices.
