How to Opt Out of Google Search's AI Training Data Feature
Original: How to Opt Out of Google Search’s New AI Data Training Feature
Why This Matters
AI training data practices increasingly impact user privacy; Google's default-enabled collection of multimedia search data affects millions of users globally.
Google is rolling out a new Search Services History setting that automatically saves user media uploads—images, audio, and video from searches—for AI model training. Users can opt out via My Activity settings, but saved data remains in training for up to 4 years after deletion.
Google announced a privacy setting update rolling out globally over the coming months that changes how the company handles Search history data. The new Search Services History feature, found in Google's My Activity page, automatically enables storage of all media uploads from user interactions—including images used in reverse image searches, audio from Google Translate, and voice search recordings—to train Google's AI models. By default, the setting was already enabled when users first visited the page, with a checkbox to save media for AI training already checked. Users who previously disabled Web & App Activity and Search Personalization toggles would have the feature off initially. To opt out, users must navigate to Google's My Activity page, select the Search Services History tab, and uncheck the box next to "Save media." Google warns that once media is used to train AI models, it becomes disconnected from the user's Google Account and training data is retained for up to 4 years, even if the original activity is deleted. Google spokesperson Davis Thompson stated the settings "help users get more relevant results and revisit their searches" and can be toggled at any time, but did not address why the feature defaults to enabled. The company is collecting diverse data types—text, images, audio, and video—to improve AI models faster than competitors, leveraging its massive cross-service user base for data collection.