Google is using your uploads for AI — here’s how to stop it
google’s new search services history setting is on by default and retains user media like audio and images for ai model training for up to 4 years. users must manually opt out to prevent this data use.
google is rolling out a default-on setting called search services history that saves media uploads—such as images, voice, and video from translate and lens—to train its ai models. this data is disconnected from user accounts and retained for up to 4 years, even if the original activity is deleted. while google claims this improves results, it raises concerns about privacy and the default use of personal data for corporate ai advancement. the move highlights how tech giants are aggressively mining existing user interactions to build multimodal capabilities, forcing privacy-conscious users to manually navigate settings to opt out.