7 Privacy Settings to Change Right Now to Stop Google AI From Using Your Data

Google’s AI features are woven into Search, Photos, Assistant, and even YouTube. By default, many of these tools collect and retain your activity, location, voice recordings, and images. The company uses this data to train and improve its AI models, but you can limit what it keeps and how it’s used.

Below are seven settings you should review in your Google Account. For each, I explain what the setting does, how to turn it off (or reduce retention), and what trade-off to expect if you do.

What Happened

A recent article from PCMag (published July 15, 2026) highlighted how deeply Google’s AI can reach into your personal data. The default settings for many Google products share information such as search history, location logs, photo scans, voice recordings, and ad preferences with AI systems. While Google has provided controls for years, they are often not enabled by default, and the company’s increasing push to integrate AI (including Gemini/Bard) means more of your data is being used than many users realize.

Why It Matters

When you use Google’s AI features – smart replies in Gmail, object recognition in Photos, voice queries with Assistant, or conversational search in Gemini – your inputs and sometimes your stored data are sent to Google’s servers for processing. This can improve the service, but it also creates a permanent record of your behavior unless you delete it. For privacy-conscious users, the concern is less about malice and more about data aggregation, potential leaks, and unwanted training on personal content. Understanding the trade-offs lets you decide what you’re comfortable sharing.

What Readers Can Do

All settings below can be found at myaccount.google.com or inside the Google app on your phone. You can change them at any time; the effects are usually immediate for new data, though existing data may take time to delete.

1. Web & App Activity – Turn Off or Set Auto-Delete

This setting saves your searches, Chrome history, and activity from other Google apps to your account. Google AI uses this data to personalize results and train models.

  • How to change: Go to “Data & privacy” → “Web & App Activity” → turn off the toggle. You can also choose auto-delete after 3, 18, or 36 months instead of keeping everything indefinitely.
  • What you lose: Personalized search suggestions, smart replies, and reminders based on past activity. You can still use Google normally; it just won’t remember what you did.

2. Location History – Pause or Delete

Location History creates a timeline of places you’ve visited. This is separate from device location used for navigation. Google AI uses this to train models about places and travel patterns.

  • How to change: Under “Data & privacy” → “Location History” → pause it. You can also delete all existing history.
  • What you lose: Personalized commute estimates, location-based reminders, and the Google Maps timeline feature.

3. YouTube History – Pause or Limit

YouTube saves your watch and search history to recommend videos. AI models use this to improve suggestions and content understanding.

  • How to change: Go to your YouTube settings → “History & privacy” → pause “Watch history” and “Search history.” You can also set auto-delete (3, 18, or 36 months).
  • What you lose: Personalized video recommendations and the ability to resume videos where you left off. Your homepage will become much less tailored.

4. Ads Personalization – Opt Out

This setting doesn’t stop ad tracking entirely, but it prevents Google from using your data to show you targeted ads. AI models are trained on anonymized ad data, so opting out limits that.

  • How to change: “Data & privacy” → “Ad personalization” → turn off “Ad personalization.” Google will still show ads, but they won’t be based on your activity.
  • What you lose: You’ll see generic ads rather than ones relevant to your interests. No impact on core Google features.

5. Google Assistant – Disable Voice Recording Storage

When you use “Hey Google,” your voice commands are recorded and stored. By default, these recordings can be used to improve speech recognition and AI models.

  • How to change: Open the Google app → tap your profile picture → “Settings” → “Google Assistant” → “Data & privacy” → turn off “Voice & Audio activity.” You can also delete existing recordings.
  • What you lose: Assistant will still work, but it won’t learn from your voice patterns. Some personalized features (like recognizing your voice) may degrade.

6. Google Photos – Disable Face and Object Recognition

Google Photos can identify faces, pets, and objects in your images to power search and grouping. These features rely on AI models that analyze your photos.

  • How to change: Open Google Photos → tap your profile picture → “Photos settings” → “Privacy” → turn off “Face grouping” and “Object recognition.” Existing face models will be deleted.
  • What you lose: You can no longer search for “dog” or “beach” in your photos automatically. Manual albums still work. Face grouping is a convenience, not essential.

7. Gemini (Bard) – Opt Out of Conversation Review

Google’s generative AI chat (Gemini) saves your conversations and uses them to improve its models. By default, human reviewers may see them.

  • How to change: Go to myaccount.google.com → “Data & privacy” → “Gemini Apps activity” → turn it off. This stops saving new conversations. Existing chats can be deleted manually.
  • What you lose: Gemini won’t remember context from previous conversations. It will still work, but each chat starts fresh. You also lose the ability to review past conversations.

A Quick Note on Trade-Offs

Changing these settings will reduce how much Google knows about you, which is exactly what many people want. However, some features will become less convenient. For instance, without Location History, Maps won’t show your preferred routes; without YouTube History, recommendations will be generic. Decide which trade-offs you’re comfortable with. Most users find the privacy gain worth the loss of a few AI-powered conveniences.

Sources

  • PCMag, “Google’s AI Has Access to More Than You Think. Change These 7 Settings Now to Protect Your Privacy,” July 15, 2026.
  • Google Account help pages (myaccount.google.com).
  • Google Privacy & Terms documentation.