How to Protect Your Privacy While Using AI Tools

Millions of people now rely on AI chatbots and assistants for work, learning, and everyday tasks. But as these tools become more capable, they also collect more data. A recent Wall Street Journal article titled “How to Maintain Our Privacy in the AI Age” (June 2026) lays out the tension between convenience and control. The article, along with other reports, makes clear that the default settings of many popular AI services are designed to capture and retain user conversations—often in ways that aren’t obvious.

What Happened

The WSJ piece, along with related reporting, highlighted that the rapid adoption of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Google Gemini has outpaced both regulation and user awareness. Many services store chat histories by default, and some use those conversations to train or improve their models. While companies have begun offering opt-out options, the defaults remain collection-friendly. The issue gained wider attention after a series of data exposure incidents and growing concern from privacy advocates.

Why It Matters

When you type a question into an AI tool, you may be sharing personal details—medical symptoms, financial information, confidential work documents, or family matters. If that data is stored on cloud servers, it could be accessed by the company, shared with third parties, or leaked in a breach. Even if a company promises not to use your data for training, it may still retain logs for safety monitoring or product improvement. The privacy risk is especially high because many users treat AI tools like private assistants, not public forums. Understanding how your data is handled is the first step to controlling it.

What Readers Can Do

Here are practical steps you can take today, based on expert guidance from the WSJ and other sources.

1. Review and limit permissions. Most AI apps request access to your location, contacts, or files. Check your device settings and revoke anything that isn’t necessary for the tool to function. On mobile, treat AI apps like any other app—grant location only while using, and deny access to photos or messages unless you specifically need it.

2. Use AI tools that process data on your device. Some newer tools run entirely or mostly on your phone or computer, reducing what reaches the cloud. Apple Intelligence (on supported devices) processes many requests locally. Open‑source models like Llama or Mistral can be run offline using local apps or via services like Ollama. For common tasks like summarization, this eliminates the data collection step entirely.

3. Avoid sharing personally identifiable information (PII) in prompts. This is the simplest rule: don’t include your full name, address, Social Security number, or other sensitive details in any AI conversation. If you need to work with sensitive text, redact or anonymize it before pasting it. Even if a service promises not to store logs, mistakes happen.

4. Clear chat histories and opt out of training data. Most platforms now allow you to delete past conversations. Do this regularly. Also look for settings labeled “Improve the model” or “Use my data for training” and turn them off. For example, OpenAI and Google offer opt‑out controls in their account settings. Some services will still retain logs for safety (e.g., abuse monitoring), but opting out prevents your input from being used to train future versions of the model.

5. Consider privacy‑focused alternatives. A growing number of tools are built with privacy as a core feature. DuckDuckGo’s AI Chat anonymizes your queries and does not store them. Brave’s Leo assistant runs locally when possible. These options may be slightly less powerful than the big players, but for everyday tasks they are often sufficient—and your data stays with you.

6. Keep your software updated and use strong passwords. This applies to any online account, but it’s especially important for AI services that hold your conversation history. Use a password manager to generate unique, long passwords for each account. Enable two‑factor authentication. Updates often include security patches that address vulnerabilities in how data is handled.

Sources

  • “How to Maintain Our Privacy in the AI Age.” The Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2026.
  • “What AI Can’t—or Shouldn’t—Do for You.” The Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2026.
  • Additional privacy guidance from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the FTC’s consumer privacy resources.

No single step will make your AI use completely private, but combining several of these practices significantly reduces your risk. The key is to treat AI tools as helpful but not trustworthy by default—and to adjust your habits accordingly.