A new report on browser privacy posts OpenAI’s new ChatGPT Atlas is at the very bottom of the rankings, citing weak tracking protection, poor connection security, and virtually no effective data blocking. The research, conducted by a software supplier Digitainreviewed 13 browsers and rated them in multiple privacy categories.
The report notes that the AI browser failed every state partitioning test, meaning websites can track users across separate browsing sessions. Chrome also performed poorly, while more privacy-focused browsers like Brave and Mullvad took the top spots.
Researchers tested how well each browser prevents fingerprinting, blocks trackers, and protects users as they navigate between websites. Each category was given a score, and these results were combined into a final “Privacy Risk Score” from 1 to 99. Higher scores indicate weaker privacy protections.
ChatGPT Atlas’ privacy issues
ChatGPT Atlas received the highest privacy risk score of 99. It only received 1 point – out of 100! — for anti-fingerprinting and 0 points for tracker blocking. The browser allows websites to collect data through cookies, query strings, and other tracking methods without built-in defenses. It also achieved just 24 points for connection and navigation security, leaving it far behind more established browsers.
Google’s Chrome followed with a Privacy Risk Score of 76. It scored 68 points for fingerprint reduction, but like ChatGPT, Atlas registered 0 for blocking trackers. The report states that Chrome allows companies to monitor browsing activity across the Internet through tracking cookies and other markers. The browser managed 41 points of connection security.
Vivaldi came next among the least private browsers. It matched Chrome’s anti-fingerprint score of 68 points and also received 0 points for blocking trackers. Its connection security score was 37 points, putting it slightly below Google’s browser.
Microsoft Edge came fourth. It received 68 points for anti-fingerprinting and 15 points for blocking trackers. Edge matched Chrome’s connection security score of 41 points, but the study still found that the browser offers limited privacy safeguards for users.
Opera completed the top five. It received 68 points for anti-fingerprinting and 41 points for connection security. It performed slightly better at blocking trackers with a score of 25, but was still among the browsers with a higher overall privacy risk.
“New AI-powered browsers like Perplexity’s ChatGPT Atlas and Comet are getting a lot of attention right now and millions of people are trying them out because of the AI hype,” said Paruyr Harutyunyan, group head of digital marketing at Digitain. “These browsers have interesting features that traditional browsers don’t have, but users should stop and check how secure they actually are. AI works by collecting and learning from data, which means these tools may be collecting more of your personal data than you realize. Just because something uses AI doesn’t automatically make it secure or private.”
What do you think of these findings on browser privacy? Let us know in the comments.
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