Feature Request: Local Session Lock for ChatGPT
I would like to request a dedicated local session-lock feature for ChatGPT on desktop and web.
The current authentication model protects account login, but it does not adequately protect an already authenticated ChatGPT session on a shared or semi-shared computer.
My use case is a workstation that may occasionally be accessed by other people. I may need to stay signed in to ChatGPT during the day, but if I leave the computer unattended even briefly, anyone with physical access to the browser can immediately open ChatGPT, read my conversations, access uploaded files, or use my account.
Logging out every time is not a practical solution.
The problem becomes even more obvious when using “Continue with Google.” If the browser already has an authenticated Google session, logging back into ChatGPT may require no OpenAI password and no separate ChatGPT passkey prompt.
To reliably prevent re-entry, I may effectively need to sign out of the Google account or browser profile itself.
That is disproportionate to the problem being solved.
I should be able to lock only my ChatGPT session without disrupting Gmail, Drive, Calendar, or other services that depend on the same browser account.
This is why ChatGPT needs a dedicated local session lock that is separate from account logout.
Suggested behavior:
-
Add a clearly visible “Lock ChatGPT” button in the profile/account menu.
-
Allow optional automatic locking after a configurable period of inactivity, for example 1, 5, 15, 30, or 60 minutes.
-
Unlock using a ChatGPT-specific PIN, passkey, or hardware security key.
-
While locked, conversation history, message previews, uploaded files, account information, and chat contents should not be visible.
-
The lock screen should offer options such as:
-
Unlock current session
-
Log out
-
Use another account
-
Continue without signing in, if guest access is available
-
-
Unlocking should restore the existing ChatGPT session without requiring a full logout/login cycle.
-
Logging out should remain a separate action.
This would solve a different security problem from MFA or passkeys.
MFA protects the account during authentication.
A local session lock protects an already authenticated ChatGPT session from unauthorized physical access.
Those are two separate security layers.
A user should not have to terminate their entire session, log out of Google, or disrupt unrelated browser services simply because they stepped away from a shared workstation for a few minutes.
Many applications already distinguish between “Lock” and “Sign out.” ChatGPT would benefit significantly from the same model, especially because conversations may contain private work information, uploaded documents, personal data, credentials pasted temporarily for troubleshooting, or other sensitive context.
In short:
Please add a dedicated local ChatGPT session lock with:
-
Manual locking
-
Configurable inactivity timeout
-
ChatGPT-specific PIN / passkey / hardware-key unlocking
-
Hidden conversation and account content while locked
-
Separate “Log out / Switch account” options
-
No requirement to sign out of Google or the browser profile
This would be a meaningful privacy, security, and usability improvement for people who use ChatGPT on shared, office, vessel, laboratory, workshop, university, or other multi-user computers.