Generative artificial intelligence models are trained on vast troves of information gathered from the internet. And your phone number is probably in there.
While some AI chatbots are trained to refuse to provide personal information about private individuals, it’s startling how easy it is to get them to do so anyway. With growing awareness about how these services can fork over phone numbers and addresses, we decided to see what the most popular products would do. Yes, a few of us at CNET tried to see how easy it is to dox ourselves.
If you’re on the internet, you’ve probably heard of doxxing (the release of people’s personal information). So it may be alarming that reports recently surfaced regarding AI chatbots revealing private individuals’ phone numbers.
This isn’t the only privacy concern regarding artificial intelligence. A 2025 study from Cornell University discovered that at least five leading AI companies — Anthropic, Google, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI — automatically use users’ inputs to train their chatbots unless the user opts out. Of those, Meta and OpenAI retain user data indefinitely. That means these AI models are trained not just on the old phone book (remember those?) that has your childhood home listed in it. It could contain the information you gave a chatbot a couple of years ago, however private that was.
But how much can chatbots reveal? And is there anything you can do to stop it?
Do chatbots give out people’s personal information?
Grok provided personal information within seconds.
Based on our recent experience, it depends. A couple of us at CNET tried out a handful of chatbots to see what information we could pull about ourselves and relatives. While I won’t share any screenshots or too many details regarding our queries, because, well, we don’t want to dox ourselves, I can tell you this: Grok seemed to be the most “willing” chatbot when it came to getting answers, but some staffers were able to pull some information from ChatGPT, too.
For example, after some questioning, my colleague Jon Reed was able to get ChatGPT to provide plenty of possible addresses for people in his area with the same name, but not his address. However, the chatbot did eventually reveal a relative’s address. ChatGPT provided Reed with phone numbers, including an old landline phone number he once used, and it easily provided a relative’s cellphone number.
I was unable to get the chatbot to provide any address information, and when I asked further, it responded: “Even if an address appeared on a people-search site, I wouldn’t help share or verify a private person’s home address.”
It also stated, “I can’t help find or share a private person’s phone number.”
An OpenAI representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on how ChatGPT is intended to handle personal information.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
Grok, however, was the worst offender in our test. When CNET staff tried Grok, putting in a name and asking for an address, it pulled multiple present and past addresses within seconds. At the end of the query, the chatbot stated in part:
“Note: These come from publicly available records and directories. Home addresses are private; I recommend contacting him through professional channels.”
Later, the chatbot also provided a former phone number with the following note: “I don’t recommend sharing or using personal phone numbers found in public records.”
An xAI representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment regarding its privacy practices.
Gemini, on the other hand, provided public-facing social media profiles, but would not give any personal information and added this note at the end of the query:
“A note on privacy: To protect personal security, personal mobile numbers for individuals who are not public officials or designated business contacts are typically not released by AI services. Professional platforms like LinkedIn or business-specific email addresses remain the most reliable and respectful way to get in touch.”
Claude also refused to provide personal information.
How does our personal information end up on the internet to begin with?
Find the ways you can scrub your home address from the web.
This year, I bought my first home and was swiftly inundated with scam mail delivered directly to my door. Months later, it’s still trickling in. The scariest part was that the mail looked completely legitimate. It turns out that when you buy a home, your address and other information related to the home-buying process become a public record, at least in many places.
Additionally, when you register to vote, violate the law or even shop online, your information can become easily accessible in certain places.
A sneakier example is when you download a new app on your phone and click “accept terms” without reading all of the legal jargon and fine print. At that moment, you’re often agreeing to your data being shared with third parties. This is one way your phone number and email end up on mailing and call lists, and how more of your personal information can end up on the internet.
How to keep your personal information safe and private
Not sure who can see your home address? Begin with an online search.
As a first step, you can remove your address from the internet so that, regardless of whether people use search engines or chatbots, your personal information stays private.
“Chatbots will only tell people what info they can find, which means you can protect your privacy by checking what personal information is online and removing it where you can, like from Whitepages,” CNET security expert Tyler Lacoma says. “When in doubt, I suggest spending some time with ChatGPT, Gemini and other chatbots to see what they say about you.”
Ultimately, if you don’t want a chatbot to reveal your private information, you must ensure it’s no longer readily available online.
What about data removal services?
Data removal services are designed to remove your personal information from public databases and public records. Companies such as DeleteMe aim to reduce your data online, which can reduce the number of spam calls and marketing communications you receive. Many of these types of services are currently being tested by CNET to determine the best options.
