Here’s something you probably missed. If you’ve been using Google Search, Google Lens or even Google Translate lately, there’s a good chance your data is being used to train Google’s AI right now. And
chances are, nobody asked you directly.
A change to Google’s privacy settings means the company can now store more of your data, including your images, files, audio and video recordings, to improve its AI models.
In simple terms, if you’ve uploaded any media to Google’s Search services recently, it may already be part of Google’s AI training pipeline. Unless you’ve gone in and switched it off yourself.
This wasn’t announced with much fanfare either. Google rolled it out quietly through an email to users back in June, dressed up as a way to give people “more control” over their saved history and personalised recommendations. In reality, it opted most people into a much wider data collection setup by default.
What Is Google Collecting Now
Google introduced two new settings as part of this change. One is called Search Services History, and the other is Personalised Recommendations.
Together, these control how your activity gets used to personalise your Google experience, and how long your data sticks around before it’s deleted.
Here’s the part that matters most. This isn’t limited to Google Search alone. It covers Maps, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Translate and Google News too. So this is a lot bigger than most people realise.
Think about how often you use these tools without a second thought. Snap a photo with Google Lens to identify something, and that image might now be saved for AI training.
Use Search Live to search by speaking into the Google app, and that voice recording could be stored too. Even practicing your pronunciation on Google Translate isn’t off limits. That audio gets saved as well.
Google isn’t hiding this either, to be fair. In its email to users, the company stated plainly that saved media is used to develop and improve Google’s services, including AI models and safety measures.
Its help documentation says something similar, mentioning that saved history helps train generative AI models, with the help of human reviewers.
Some of this storage is temporary and just helps the product function properly. But by Google’s own admission, saved media can specifically be kept around to train its AI. That’s the bit worth paying attention to.
Why This Is Happening Now
This isn’t really a Google-only story. It’s part of a much bigger shift happening across the tech industry. Companies used to rely mostly on data scraped from the open web to train their AI models. Now, they’re increasingly turning to the data people willingly upload or create while using everyday apps.
Meta is doing something very similar. It trains its AI using people’s photos and other media, and even content captured through its AI glasses. So Google isn’t alone here. This is quickly becoming the norm across big tech, whether users are fully aware of it or not.
How You Can Opt Out
Now for the useful part. You do have some control here, and it only takes a few minutes to sort out.
Head over to your Search Services History and Search Services Personalisation settings. Inside Search Services History, you’ll find a “Save Media” option. You can switch this off separately from the main Search Services History setting, or turn both off together if you’d rather not take any chances.
While you’re in there, you can also decide how long Google holds onto your saved data before automatically deleting it. Your choices are three months, 18 months, or 36 months. Pick whichever feels right for you.
Once you’re done there, it’s worth checking your other privacy settings too. Google has separate controls for Web & App Activity, your Timeline, and your YouTube History, all of which are worth reviewing while you’re at it.
It’s worth remembering that saved media is only part of the picture. Google also uses your search history, your location, and details from websites you visit to personalise things like which ads you see. So switching off media saving alone doesn’t cover everything.
One more important thing. Before this update, Google let you control your saved search data entirely through Web & App Activity settings. That’s changed now. It’s been split into two separate settings, your existing Web & App Activity data, and a new Search data setting, which is switched on by default.
This matters because if you’ve already gone in and adjusted your Web & App Activity settings thinking you’d opted out completely, that change no longer covers your Google Search activity. You’ll need to check the new Search Services History setting separately to actually opt out.
