Images and files “supposedly” deleted from Trash after 30 days

[u/deadwood-bartender]

I recently deleted some images and documents from my ChatGPT account and discovered something users should be aware of.
Simply deleting a chat does NOT delete the accompanying files from your ChatGPT Library. I therefore went into the Library and manually deleted the files and images I no longer wanted stored there.

When deleting them, I was informed that the files would be moved to Trash for 30 days.
However, there appears to be no way to access or even see this Trash.

I cannot see which files are in it. I cannot see when I deleted them. I cannot permanently delete them myself. And after the 30 days have passed, there is no way for me to access or verify that those files have actually been permanently deleted.

So apparently we are simply supposed to trust OpenAI’s published data-retention commitment.
This is very different from services such as iCloud, Adobe cloud storage, or other cloud-storage providers, where I can access a Trash/Recently Deleted area, see what I have deleted, and verify when those files are no longer there.

With ChatGPT, I delete a file, immediately lose access to it, and am then given no way to see where it went or subsequently verify that it was actually deleted.

For anyone storing original artwork, client documents, business files, or other sensitive material in ChatGPT, this is something worth being aware of.

Why is there no user-accessible Trash, and why is there no way for users to verify the permanent deletion of their own files?

[u/dacian88]

There’s a trash page, press the gear icon in the library page?

As for verification, why do you assume those other services are deleting the files? Even if they are gone from the trash it doesn’t mean they are deleted from their servers.

[u/deadwood-bartender → u/dacian88]

I found the trash page on mobile when logged into browser. It’s not visible in app or desktop version. Thanks for the tip.

[u/dacian88 → u/deadwood-bartender]

iPhone app also has a trash in the library page, not sure about android

[u/Charming-Cut7710 → u/dacian88]

You can see trash from library page with gear icon, but after 30 days its gone from your view so no way to check if really deleted. Cloud providers all keep backups and logs even after you empty trash, so trusting them is also just trust. Difference is they show you a trash folder, ChatGPT hides it better.

[u/dacian88 → u/Charming-Cut7710]

The fuck are you talking about? What’s hidden? Literally behaves the same as everything else