source: techcrunch ai: if you use google, you’re training its ai. here’s how to opt out.
level: technical
google quietly expanded its data collection for ai training through a june privacy settings update. the change affects search services like google lens, voice search, and translate. now, media you upload or create—such as photos, audio recordings, and videos—can be stored and used to improve ai models. this applies across maps, shopping, flights, hotels, and news. the company says saved media helps develop services and safety measures, including generative ai. previously, web and app activity settings controlled this data, but search history is now a separate option that is on by default.
the update introduced two new settings: search services history and personalized recommendations. these let you manage how your activity personalizes your google experience and how long data is kept. importantly, a save media checkbox controls whether images and audio are retained for ai training. you can uncheck it independently from the main history setting. data can be auto-deleted after 3, 18, or 36 months. google confirms in help documents that human reviewers may access saved media to train models and protect users.
this shift reflects a broader industry trend of harvesting user-generated content for ai. meta similarly trains on images and media from its platforms and smart glasses. for google users, opting out requires visiting the search services history page and adjusting the save media preference. other privacy controls, like youtube history and timeline, remain separate. the change means that even if you previously limited web and app activity, your search media may still be collected unless you actively disable the new setting.
why it matters: data scientists and ai practitioners should know that user-generated media from everyday google services is now default training data, affecting model behavior and privacy considerations.
source: techcrunch ai: if you use google, you’re training its ai. here’s how to opt out.