Feature request: Vault Chats for sensitive retained conversations

Feature request: Vault Chats for sensitive retained conversations

Summary Add a vault-style chat space inside ChatGPT for conversations that users want to keep, but protect separately from normal chat history.

Problem Today there is a gap between privacy and continuity.

Users can:

• keep normal chats with history and continuity, or

• use Temporary Chat for privacy

But they cannot keep a long-running sensitive conversation in a protected area with an extra access barrier.

This matters for topics like:

• intimate health

• relationship issues

• legal or financial planning

• sensitive business strategy

• private personal reflection

For many users, the concern is not account compromise. It is everyday device access: a partner, family member, colleague, or anyone who may temporarily have access to an unlocked phone or computer. In those cases, archived chats are not enough, and Temporary Chat removes the retained history users may need.

Requested feature Create Vault Chats : an optional protected chat area within the same account for sensitive retained conversations.

Core behavior

• User can mark a chat or folder as Vault

• Vault requires a second unlock step beyond normal app access

• Vault chats remain saved and searchable inside the vault

• Vault chats stay separated from normal chat history and memory surfaces

• Vault can auto-lock after inactivity

• Vault should be hidden from casual browsing when locked

Ideal unlock options

• device biometrics

• separate PIN/passcode

• system secure enclave / private storage integration where available

Minimum viable version

• lock/unlock Vault area with PIN or biometric

• move chats in and out of Vault

• keep vault chats retained like normal chats

• hide previews, snippets, and titles while locked

• exclude vault chats from standard sidebar/history view until unlocked

Important privacy expectations Users should be able to clearly control whether Vault chats:

• participate in memory

• appear in search outside vault

• are used for personalization

• are included in exports

• are visible in notifications, previews, widgets, or recent items

Why this matters This solves a real user need that is not covered by current controls:

• Temporary Chat is private but does not preserve continuity

• Archive reduces clutter but is not a security boundary

• Logging out and using separate accounts is awkward and not realistic for normal use

A protected retained-chat space would let users continue important sensitive conversations over time without exposing them alongside ordinary chats.

User value

• safer long-term use for sensitive topics

• less need for account switching or manual deletion

• stronger trust in ChatGPT as a personal thinking tool

• better separation between everyday work and private matters

Example use cases

• ongoing private health tracking and questions

• relationship journaling and decision support

• sensitive startup, legal, or negotiation strategy

• confidential self-reflection kept separate from work/project chats

Design principle Users should not have to choose between:

1. privacy with no continuity, or

2. continuity with weak local privacy

Vault Chats should provide both.

Suggested product framing “Vault Chats: a secure space for sensitive conversations you want to keep.”

Success criteria

• users can keep sensitive chat history without exposing it in normal chat browsing

• unlocking requires intentional authentication

• locked vault content does not leak through previews, search, notifications, or sidebar history

• users understand exactly how vault data behaves for memory, training, export, and retention

Bottom line Please add a vault-style protected chat space for sensitive retained conversations. This would close a meaningful product gap for users who need continuity, but do not want certain chats casually accessible on a shared or temporarily accessible device.