If you use Google, you’re training its AI. Here’s how to opt out.
Google has updated its privacy settings to automatically include user-uploaded media in its AI training data. Users must manually opt out of these settings to prevent their personal photos, audio, and files from being used to improve Google's AI models.
Why it matters
This highlights growing concerns over data privacy and the opaque methods tech giants use to acquire training data for generative AI.
Consider this a belated PSA: A recent change to Google’s privacy settings is allowing the company to store more of your data, including media such as “images, files, and audio and video recordings,” to improve its AI models. In other words, if you upload any media to Google’s Search services, it’s being used to train AI unless you opt out.
The article provides a factual warning about privacy settings while acknowledging the industry-wide trend.
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