# Private AI chat: what actually stays private

"Private" AI chat can mean no saved history, no training, no provider retention or on-device inference. These are four separate controls. What each service promises, including ours.

## Short answer

"Private" is not one setting, and no hosted chat can prove it stores nothing. A hosted AI chat must send your text to a server to generate a reply. Check four things separately: is history saved, who processes the prompt, is it used for training, and what metadata is kept. Only a local model keeps prompts on your device.




## The four layers





| Layer | Question to ask | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| History | Is the conversation saved to an account or server? | Temporary or private chats skip saved history |
| Processing | Which provider runs the model, and what does it keep? | OpenRouter shows each provider’s retention policy |
| Training | Can prompts be used to train models? | OpenRouter lets you exclude providers that train |
| Metadata | Are timestamps, token counts and billing logged? | Almost always yes |

## What each service says (checked 8 Nov 2026; their claims, not audits)



- **Unrestricted AI (us):** signed-in chats are saved by default to our database (Neon) so you can reopen them on any device; they are not available through any admin interface. Private chat is a switch: its messages stay in this browser’s local storage and never reach our conversation database. Prompt-text collection for product review stopped on 8 Nov 2026; older records may remain in storage or backups until deleted. Venice AI, NanoGPT or Featherless processes every request, and we keep account-linked usage metadata. Private chat is not anonymous and not end-to-end encrypted. Details in our [privacy policy](/privacy).
- **Venice:** "Your conversation history stays on your device." The default Private mode runs inference "on Venice-controlled GPUs or zero-data-retention partner infrastructure", which Venice says is "trust-based — relies on Venice and partners honoring contracts". TEE and E2EE modes add hardware isolation on fewer models. Anonymous mode: "assume the provider is storing your content."
- **OpenRouter:** "Prompt and completion are not logged by default", and you can opt in to logging for a 1% discount. It logs basic request metadata. Upstream providers have their own retention policies.
- **decuff:** "Your words aren’t stored after the reply." Accounts can have no name or email.
- **Featherless:** "Prompts and completions are never stored."


## Red flags



- "No logs" with no mention of metadata or upstream providers.
- No named model providers.
- No retention schedule. Our own retention schedule is not published yet either; our privacy policy says it will be before paid general availability.
- "Anonymous" claims from a service that requires a verified email or phone. We require a verified account.


## FAQ

**Is temporary or incognito chat private?**

It usually means "not saved to your history". The provider still processes the text. See [Are temporary AI chats private?](/learn/are-temporary-ai-chats-private).

**Can admins read my chats on Unrestricted AI?**

Our privacy policy says saved conversations are not available through any admin conversation or prompt-review interface, and that Private chat messages never reach our database.

**What is the most private option?**

A model running on your own hardware. See [local vs hosted](/learn/local-vs-hosted).

**Should I paste secrets or sensitive personal data?**

Not into any hosted chat. Our privacy policy says the same during early access.

## Sources

- [Venice privacy (checked 8 Nov 2026)](https://venice.ai/privacy)
- [OpenRouter FAQ (checked 8 Nov 2026)](https://openrouter.ai/docs/faq)
- [OpenRouter logging and privacy (checked 8 Nov 2026)](https://openrouter.ai/docs/guides/privacy/logging)
- [decuff (checked 8 Nov 2026)](https://decuff.ai)
- [Featherless pricing (checked 8 Nov 2026)](https://featherless.ai/pricing)
- [Unrestricted AI privacy policy](https://tryunrestrictedai.com/privacy)

Canonical: https://tryunrestrictedai.com/learn/private-ai-chat