Trust Issues Spilling your hopes, secrets, and fantasies to your AI girlfriend? You might want to reconsider. In a new report, experts at the Mozilla Foundation warn that AI companion bots — including the popular app Replika — are plagued by deeply concerning privacy pitfalls and murky data use policies. “So-called ‘AI soulmates’ are giving Mozilla the ick when it comes to how much personal information they collect,” reads the Mozilla report, “especially given the lack of transparency and user control over how this data is protected from abuse.” In other words, bots designed to provide humans with an outlet for intimacy are data-hoarding troves of privacy tripwires — and the companies making them might just be using your very intimate data for their profit. “To be perfectly blunt, AI girlfriends and boyfriends are not your friends,” Mozilla researcher Misha Rykov said in a statement (emphasis his.) “Although they are marketed as something that will enhance your mental health and well-being, they specialize in delivering dependency, loneliness, and toxicity, all while prying as much data as possible from you.” Eep! And we thought human-to-human relationships had trust issues. Bad Date The researchers’ findings are striking, not to mention extremely creepy. Per the report, Mozilla researchers put 11 AI companion bots through their paces, ultimately finding that “ten of the 11 chatbots failed to meet Mozilla’s Minimum Security Standards, such as requiring strong passwords or having a way to manage security vulnerabilities.” So, not only do the apps fall flat on…Warning: “AI Girlfriends” Are Hoarding Your Personal Data