How to Maintain Our Privacy in the AI Age: Practical Steps for Everyday Consumers

If you’ve used a chatbot, a smart speaker, or a generative AI app recently, you’ve traded some personal data for convenience. That trade-off is becoming harder to ignore. The Wall Street Journal’s recent article How to Maintain Our Privacy in the AI Age (published June 23, 2026) lays out the growing tension between the usefulness of AI tools and the amount of personal information they collect. The piece follows related coverage like What AI Can’t—or Shouldn’t—Do for You and The Job Interview Is Broken, signaling that privacy risks from AI are now a mainstream concern.

This article distills the key takeaways from that reporting and adds concrete steps you can take today. You don’t need to be a privacy expert or stop using AI altogether. A few deliberate habits can make a real difference.

What Happened

The WSJ article highlights that as AI becomes embedded in everyday tools—search engines, email, writing assistants, voice assistants, photo editors—the data these systems collect grows in volume and sensitivity. Unlike a website that tracks your clicks, an AI model may store entire conversations, documents you upload, or voice recordings. Some of that data is used to train future models, and much of it is retained for extended periods. The article notes that privacy policies for popular AI products often allow broad data use, and default settings tend to favour the company, not the user.

Other recent reports, including the WSJ’s What AI Can’t—or Shouldn’t—Do for You, underscore that no amount of convenience justifies handing over information that could be misused, leaked, or repurposed in ways you didn’t intend.

Why It Matters

AI tools are not optional luxuries anymore. They are woven into operating systems, office software, healthcare portals, and customer service. Even if you never open ChatGPT or Google Gemini, your data may still pass through an AI system when you use a mapping app, autocomplete in email, or a voice-to-text feature. The default behaviour of most AI tools is to collect and process as much as possible, because more data leads to better models. The user’s interest—privacy—is secondary unless the user actively makes it a priority.

The risks are not hypothetical. Data breaches, inadvertent exposure of confidential information, and third-party access through poorly designed integrations have already happened. The recent wave of generative AI apps has also led to lawsuits over copyright and private data scraping. The burden is on consumers to learn where their data goes and how to limit it.

What Readers Can Do

The following steps are based on the WSJ article and other consumer privacy guidance. They are ranked from simplest to most involved.

1. Audit which AI tools have your data.
Make a list of every AI-powered service you use regularly. This includes chatbots (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot), smart speakers (Alexa, Google Assistant), writing assistants (Grammarly, Microsoft Editor), and even photo apps that use AI for editing. Go into the settings or account dashboard for each service and look for a way to view or export your data. Some services let you delete chat histories or turn off model training. Do that now, and repeat every few months.

2. Change privacy settings immediately on the most popular AI tools.

  • ChatGPT (OpenAI): Go to Settings → Data Controls. Turn off “Chat history & training.” This prevents your conversations from being used to improve future models. You can still use the service, but your chats won’t be saved unless you opt back in.
  • Google Gemini (formerly Bard): In your Google Account, under Data & Privacy, turn off “Gemini Apps Activity.” Also check that your location data and web and app activity are set to auto-delete after a limited period (e.g., 3 months).
  • Microsoft Copilot (Windows, Edge, Office): In Microsoft Privacy Dashboard, turn off “Optional diagnostic data.” For Copilot in Microsoft 365, know that your data stays within your tenant if you have a work or school account, but personal accounts are subject to different rules. Use the “no sync” option when possible.
  • Amazon Alexa: Open the Alexa app → Settings → Alexa Privacy. Review voice recordings, turn off “Help Improve Amazon,” and delete old recordings manually.
  • Apple Intelligence: Since Apple’s on-device processing limits data exposure, but if you use ChatGPT integration (now available in iOS), you can opt out of sharing queries with OpenAI. Go to Settings → Apple Intelligence & Siri → ChatGPT → turn off “Improve ChatGPT.”

3. Never share sensitive personal information with an AI assistant.
Assume that any text you type, any file you upload, or any voice command you give may be stored or reviewed by a human. Do not share:

  • Social Security numbers, national ID numbers, or passport details
  • Full credit card or bank account numbers
  • Login credentials for any account
  • Private medical details (unless you are using a HIPAA-compliant service and understand the data policy)
  • Company trade secrets or classified information
  • Passwords, security questions, or one-time codes

If you must use an AI tool for a sensitive task, consider using an offline model or an encrypted service that doesn’t transmit data to a cloud server.

4. Consider privacy-focused alternatives.

  • Use local, offline AI models like Llama 3 (via tools such as Ollama or LM Studio) that run entirely on your computer. No data leaves your machine.
  • For writing assistance, try TextCortex or Personal AI, which have clearer data retention policies than some mainstream options.
  • For search, consider DuckDuckGo’s AI search (called DuckAssist) which anonymizes queries.
  • For voice assistants, use the built-in assistant on your smartphone only when necessary, and disable “always listening” mode.

5. Develop a habit of reading privacy policies—but strategically.
You don’t need to read every word. Focus on:

  • What data is collected (especially “content” like messages or files)
  • How long it’s retained
  • Whether the data is used to train the model
  • Whether you can delete your data permanently
  • Whether the service shares data with third parties

Look for symbols: key terms like “may retain,” “improve our services,” “aggregate,” and “anonymized” often mask actual usage. When in doubt, assume the worst and don’t use the tool for anything you wouldn’t want published.

6. Future-proof your habits.
AI privacy is a moving target. Policies change, new tools appear, and data breaches happen. Set a calendar reminder every three months to:

  • Review and delete saved data in each AI service you use
  • Check privacy news (especially from sources like WSJ, EFF, or Consumer Reports)
  • Update permissions on your phone and browser for any AI-related plugins

Consider using a separate browser or a dedicated Google/Apple account for AI experiments, so your primary account isn’t tangled with the data trail.

Sources

  • Wall Street Journal, “How to Maintain Our Privacy in the AI Age” (June 23, 2026)
  • Wall Street Journal, “What AI Can’t—or Shouldn’t—Do for You” (June 21, 2026)
  • Wall Street Journal, “The Job Interview Is Broken. Here’s How AI Could Actually Fix It.” (June 16, 2026)
  • OpenAI Privacy Center (openai.com/policies/privacy)
  • Google Privacy & Terms (policies.google.com)
  • Microsoft Privacy Statement (privacy.microsoft.com)
  • DuckDuckGo Privacy Policy (duckduckgo.com/privacy)

The bottom line: you can enjoy the benefits of AI without giving up control of your personal data. It just takes a little upfront effort and regular attention. That’s a small price for peace of mind.