How do i change my AI privacy settings?
Your AI privacy settings checklist
Most AI tools are set to collect and train on your data by default. This page walks you through the key privacy settings for the most popular AI assistants. Revisit every few months — these settings change frequently.
Quick-action links
- ChatGPT Data Controls
- ChatGPT Memory Settings
- OpenAI Privacy Portal
- Google Gemini Activity Controls
- Microsoft Copilot Privacy Controls — Profile icon > Privacy
- Claude Privacy Settings
- X / Grok Training Settings
- Microsoft Privacy Dashboard
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
Turn off model training: Settings > Data Controls > Improve the model for everyone > toggle off.
Manage Memory: ChatGPT silently stores personal details from your conversations — your job, health, preferences, and more. Go to Settings > Personalization > Manage Memories to review and delete what it knows. To wipe everything at once, scroll to the bottom and click "Clear ChatGPT's Memory." To turn Memory off entirely, toggle it off in Settings > Personalization.
Deleting a chat does not remove memories saved from that conversation. To fully remove something, delete both the saved memory and the original chat. OpenAI Help Center
Delete chat history: Settings > General > Delete all chats.
Use Temporary Chat for sensitive conversations. Temporary Chats won't reference memories, won't create new memories, and won't be used to train OpenAI's models. Look for the "Temporary" button at the top of a new chat.
Export or delete your data: Settings > Data Controls, or visit privacy.openai.com.
Google Gemini
Turn off Gemini Apps Activity: Go to myactivity.google.com/product/gemini > toggle off "Gemini Apps Activity" (also called "Keep Activity") > confirm by clicking Turn off.
Turning off activity means your conversation history won't be saved going forward, on personal Gemini accounts, you can't keep history while stopping training.
Delete past activity: In the same page, click Delete > All time to remove previously stored conversations.
Gemini Live audio: On mobile, also uncheck "Improve Google services with your audio and Gemini Live recordings" — this is a separate toggle.
Use Temporary Chat for sensitive conversations — these disappear after 72 hours and aren't used for AI training by default.
Microsoft Copilot
Turn off model training: On desktop — Profile icon > your profile name > Privacy > Training on conversation activity > switch off. On mobile: Menu > Profile icon > Account > Privacy > Training on conversation activity. Also turn off "Training on voice conversations" if you use voice.
Turn off personalization: Profile icon > Settings > Privacy > Personalization > toggle off. This will cause Copilot to forget everything it has stored about you.
Delete history: By default, conversations are stored for 18 months.
Delete them via Profile icon > Account > Privacy > Clear my history.
Microsoft Recall (Copilot+ PCs only): If you have a recent AI-capable Windows PC, check whether Recall — which takes periodic screenshots of your screen — is enabled: Settings > Privacy & Security > Recall & Snapshots.
Claude (Anthropic)
Turn off model training: claude.ai/settings > Privacy > toggle off "Improve Claude for everyone."
Delete conversations: In Settings, delete individual chats or your full conversation history. If you use Projects, delete any you no longer need — uploaded files are retained for the life of the project.
Grok (xAI / X)
Grok is available at grok.com and built into X. If you use it through X, its privacy is governed by X's policy, not xAI's.
Opt out of training on X: Settings and Privacy > Privacy and Safety > Grok & Third-party Collaborators > uncheck the box.
X's Terms of Service treat your AI prompts and outputs as "Content," granting X a broad license to use them for any purpose, including training AI models. Clicking thumbs up or down on a Grok response can also submit that conversation for training even if you've opted out of the general setting. EU users have stronger protections following a 2024 enforcement action that stopped X from processing EU users' posts for Grok training.
A few things to keep in mind
Turning off training does not delete data already collected — it only stops future conversations from being used. To remove past data, use the export and delete tools linked above. Paid plans are not automatically more private — on ChatGPT Plus, Gemini Advanced, and personal Copilot, your data is still used for training by default unless you opt out.
