When you're the daughter of Bill Gates and launching an AI shopping assistant, you'd think privacy would be at the top of your checklist. Apparently not.

Phia, the AI-powered shopping tool co-founded by Phoebe Gates, is now dealing with some uncomfortable questions about what exactly its browser extension has been collecting from users. Spoiler alert: it's more than just which websites have the best deals on sneakers.

What Exactly Was Being Collected?

According to a Fortune report, cybersecurity researchers discovered Phia's browser extension was doing some very ambitious data gathering. Maahir Sharma, a former Meta software engineer, started poking around after installing the extension to test it on Amazon. What he found was concerning.

"I discovered that the URL of every tab I visited was being logged, which was a red flag. Technically, this meant my complete browsing history could be reconstructed from this data alone," Sharma explained.

Here's where it gets worse. The extension wasn't just passively noting URLs—researchers found that an earlier version was actually transmitting snapshots of every webpage users visited back to Phia's servers. That includes pages with sensitive information like bank statements and personal emails. And this data collection happened whether you were shopping or just reading your Gmail.

The Company's Response

Phia, which recently raised $8 million in funding, removed the problematic feature after being notified about the issue. The company insists that all data logging was done anonymously and solely for identifying new retail sites to support.

But here's the problem: Phia didn't inform users about the potential privacy breach or explain what happened to the data already collected. Cybersecurity professionals told Fortune that these practices could violate privacy laws, including the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, primarily because of the extensive data collection happening without explicit user consent.

Family Advice, Not Family Money

Interestingly, Phoebe Gates has emphasized that her famous parents gave her advice rather than funding for the venture. Bill and Melinda Gates apparently didn't just write a check and wish her luck.

Phoebe revealed she "literally never" remembers her father talking about Microsoft's early days. "I mostly just remember him talking about the foundation. I remember even when we wanted to start the company, him being like, 'Are you sure you want to do this?'" she said.

Given the current privacy scrutiny, that parental skepticism might have been prescient.