Google Now Uses Uploaded Photos, Audio And Files To Train Its AI — Here’s How To Stop It

A little-noticed change to Google’s privacy options now lets the company retain images, audio, video and other media you upload to its search products and use that material to refine its artificial intelligence — unless you turn that off. The update, rolled out in June and communicated by email to account holders, defaults users into broader data collection under settings that were billed as ways to control saved activity and tailor recommendations.

The new controls are split across Google’s search ecosystem, including the main Search app and related services such as Maps, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Translate and News. That means a photo you snap and run through Google Lens, a voice query sent through Search Live or spoken practice in Translate can all be stored and later used for model training. While some retained items are kept briefly so the feature works, Google’s account notices and support pages make clear that saved media can also be preserved specifically to improve AI systems, and that humans may review content to help with safety and quality.

This shift mirrors a wider pattern in tech: companies are increasingly supplementing public web data with material people upload during everyday use to bulk up training sets. Other major firms have taken similar steps, using consumer photos and recorded content to tune their generative tools and wearable devices that capture ambient footage have raised comparable questions about how personal recordings are handled. Regulators and privacy advocates have flagged those practices as areas needing clearer consent and tighter oversight.

You do have levers to limit what Google keeps. In your Google account you’ll find two new toggles: one governing Search Services history and a separate one for personalization. The media-saving option can be switched off independently of the broader history setting, or you can disable both. You can also set automatic deletion schedules — choose a quarter-year, a year-and-a-half, or three years — and then visit the activity controls area to review Web & App Activity, Timeline, YouTube History and other stored items. Note that Search data is now handled separately from Web & App Activity, so changing the latter won’t automatically alter what Google keeps for search products.

Privacy specialists say users should treat defaults as a prompt to check settings rather than proof of informed consent. One privacy lawyer who reviewed the changes told this reporter that many people expect their uploads to remain private, and that firms should make retention and reviewer practices more visible. At the same time, researchers and product teams argue there’s a trade-off: turning off storage can limit personalization and may reduce the usefulness of certain features.

If you’re concerned, take a few minutes to inspect the new search controls, disable media saving if you prefer, and schedule shorter retention windows. For higher-risk searches, consider temporary browsing modes or alternative services that don’t claim rights to user-uploaded media. And because companies keep revising privacy options, it’s wise to revisit your account settings regularly.