Generative AI (GenAI) is evolving from standalone tools to interconnected ecosystems that integrate chatbots, cloud platforms, and third-party services. While this ecosystem model enables personalization and extended services, it also introduces complex information flows and amplifies privacy risks. Existing solutions focus on system-level protections, offering little support for users to make meaningful privacy choices. To address this gap, we conducted two vignette-based survey studies with 486 participants and a follow-up interview study with 16 participants. We also explored users’ needs and preferences for privacy choice design across both GenAI personalization and data-sharing. Our results reveal paradoxical patterns: participants sometimes trusted third-party ecosystems more for personalization but perceived greater control in first-party ecosystems when data was shared externally. We discuss design implications for privacy choice interfaces that enhance transparency, control, and trust in GenAI ecosystems.
ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems