Using Google? Your Searches Help Train Its AI. Here’s How to Opt Out.

This is a late public service announcement: Recent changes to Google’s privacy settings enable the company to keep more data, including media such as “images, files, and audio and video recordings,” to improve its AI models. In essence, any media you upload to Google’s Search services will be used for AI training unless you opt out.

This update came from a subtle modification to Google’s Search services privacy settings, which was shared with users in June via email. With this change, Google has effectively enrolled users in expanded AI training under the guise of offering better control over saved history and personalized suggestions.

The update introduced two new settings: Search Services History and Personalized Recommendations, allowing users to control how their activity is used to tailor their Google experience and the retention period for their web and app activity.

This change is not limited to Google Search and applies to other services like Maps, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Translate, and News.

For instance, utilizing Google Lens for visual searches by taking pictures may lead to those images being stored for AI training.

Similarly, if you use the new Search Live feature for voice searches in the Google app, those audio recordings may be saved, as well as any audio captured via Google voice search. Additionally, audio recorded while using Google Translate for practice will also be retained.

This evolution mirrors a broader industry trend towards data collection at all costs to enhance AI services. Instead of relying solely on publicly available data, Google and similar companies are increasingly collecting data generated by users while they engage with their services. Meta is also pursuing similar efforts, leveraging user images and media, as well as content captured through its AI glasses for training its AI.

Google explicitly mentions that media is utilized for training, stating in its communications to users: “Alongside your Search Services History, your stored media is also employed to develop and enhance Google services and technologies, including AI models and safety measures.”

Support documentation reinforces this, clarifying that the company “uses your history to provide, develop, and enhance its services (like training generative AI models) and to protect Google, its users, and the general public with the assistance of human reviewers.”

Some of this storage may be temporary and linked to functionality, but Google asserts that saved media can also be retained specifically for AI training.

Adjusting Your Settings

The good news is that you have some degree of control over this. You can adjust your preferences on the Search Services History and Search Services Personalization pages. On the first, you can independently uncheck the “Save Media” option, regardless of the “Search Services History” option, or deselect both. You can also decide how often you want saved data to be automatically removed — after 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months.

From there, you can visit this page to explore more privacy settings, including Web & App Activity, Timeline, YouTube History, and others.

In addition to saved media, Google also utilizes your search history, location, and other information from the websites you visit to customize your Google experience, including the ads shown to you.

Before this update, Google allowed you to manage the retention of historical search data through its “Web & App Activity” settings. This has now been divided into two separate settings: the Web & App Activity data and the new Search data setting, which is enabled by default.

As such, if you modify the Web & App Activity data retention settings in an attempt to refuse data storage by Google, this update will not impact your use of Google Search services, as it is now a separate option.