ChatGPT Health & Your Medical Data

OpenAI recently announced ChatGPT Health, a healthcare-focused version of ChatGPT designed to help people better understand medical information. Along with the announcement came a reassuring message from OpenAI:

You can safely share your medical information. - Really???

Now, on the surface, that sounds comforting — and to be fair, it’s a more careful approach than the early days of “ask the AI anything and hope for the best.” But as someone who’s spent years talking about technology, cybersecurity, and real-world risks, I want to slow this conversation down and add some much-needed perspective.

Because when it comes to health data, trust should never be automatic.

What ChatGPT Health Promises

According to OpenAI, ChatGPT Health offers:

A separate, dedicated health space inside ChatGPT

Medical conversations kept apart from general chats

Health data not used to train AI models

Strong encryption and access controls

Clear limits: the AI does not diagnose or replace your doctor

Those are all positive design choices. No argument there.

But cybersecurity isn’t about intentions — it’s about outcomes.

The Part Marketing Doesn’t Emphasize

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

No system that stores high-value personal data is ever risk-free.

Health information isn’t just sensitive — it’s permanent.

You can cancel a credit card

You can change a password

You can freeze your credit

But you cannot change your medical history.

Once that data leaks — whether through a breach, a third-party vendor, a misconfiguration, or human error — it’s out there forever.

And history has shown us, repeatedly, that even:

Hospitals

Insurance companies

Pharmacies

Government systems

Major tech firms

…have all suffered breaches.

Not because they were careless.

Because complex systems fail in complex ways.

Why “Just One More Trusted Party” Matters

Every time you add another platform that stores your health data, you add:

Another attack surface

Another set of administrators

Another software stack

Another long-term risk

Security professionals call this risk expansion.

And when the data involved is medical, the cost of failure is extremely high — financially, emotionally, and personally.

That’s not fear-mongering.

That’s lived experience.

A Smarter, Balanced Way to Use Health AI

Here’s where I land — and where many security-aware users quietly land as well:

Use AI for education, not ingestion.

In plain English:

✅ Ask AI to explain medical terms

✅ Learn about conditions in general

✅ Prepare better questions for your doctor

✅ Understand instructions you’ve already been given

But:

❌ Don’t upload medical records

❌ Don’t connect health apps

❌ Don’t share lab results tied to your identity

❌ Don’t treat AI as a decision-maker

This way, you get the benefits of clarity without taking on unnecessary long-term risk.

Doctors Still Matter — A Lot

Let’s be crystal clear:

AI cannot:

Examine you

Order tests

Interpret results in full clinical context

Make diagnoses

Prescribe treatment

Take responsibility for outcomes

Your doctor does all of that — and remains accountable.

AI is best used as a thinking aid, not a medical authority.

 The Bob The Cyber-Guy Rule of Thumb

If the data:

Can’t be changed

Could affect insurance, employment, or dignity

Could follow you for life

Then:

Don’t centralize it. Don’t volunteer it. Don’t assume any system is breach-proof.

That rule has aged remarkably well.

 Final Thoughts

ChatGPT Health is an interesting step forward. It shows that AI companies are starting to take healthcare boundaries more seriously — and that’s a good thing.

But trust isn’t built by announcements.

It’s built over time, transparency, and a long track record without incidents.

Until then, cautious use isn’t resistance — it’s wisdom.

Stay curious, Stay informed, and most importantly — stay in control of your data.

(I created the prompt, ChatGPT created the information.)

— Bob The Cyber-Guy