One of the biggest questions I get is whether your data and conversations are private when you use an AI chatbot.

The answer is … maybe! Some don’t give you much choice (hello, Google). But others let you at least protect your conversations from being sucked up into their models.

TL;DR: Almost all of these follow the same pattern:

1. Click on your User Name in the bottom left of the main screen.
2. Find the “Settings” button.
3. Look for a setting for “data controls” or “privacy” or something similar.
4. Look for a setting like, “Improve the model for everyone.” This is the way they disguise the privacy switch. When you “improve the model for everyone,” you give them permission to suck up your conversations into their AI models for training.
5. Toggle the “Improve the model for everyone” switch to off.

I’ve recorded step-by-step guides for some of the major tools, but start with Google! It’s the sneakiest and the least privacy-friendly model I’ve seen.

After you finish cleaning up the big ones, check all the places you’re using AI to read the policies and make changes if you can.

Gemini Privacy Settings

This one is the most problematic! Gemini will use your info to train its models unless you reduce your history to 72 hours.

Claude Privacy Settings

ChatGPT Privacy Settings

Perplexity Privacy Settings

Grok Privacy Settings

Copilot Privacy Settings

Other Privacy Settings

Toggling off the “Improve model for everyone” setting is just one decision you can make about your privacy. Here are other questions to ask yourself:

1. Do you want your chatbot to remember past activities or store a memory about you?
   I like this feature because it saves me from having to tell the chatbot all the details it needs to continue conversations. But you can turn off its ability to store info for later use.
2. Does your conversation need to be in a vacuum?
   Some tools have an Incognito Mode that will protect your privacy.
3. Do you need to keep track of every conversation you have had?
   I love being able to go back to older conversations (though I rarely do). But you can modify the amount of history the platform holds onto.
4. Do you really even need an account?
   Many tools let you use some basic functions without even logging in. You can also create a separate account that further isolates your sensitive conversations from your main threads (such as one account for work and another for home).
5. Would company-wide privacy be a good solution?
   I have the Business account for our team on ChatGPT, and ain’t *nothin’* getting past the data restrictions. It’s quite annoying, actually, because I can’t even share a conversation with others. It’s $25 a month vs. the $20 a month for the regular upgrade.
   
   I also have additional protections with my Microsoft 365 Premium upgrade.
   
   Oh, I also pay the Google upgrade. But they don’t care… they will still use my data.