How to keep your AI conversations as private as possible
AI News Desk
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ZDNet
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10 min read
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Just how private are the conversations you have with your favorite AI?
Earlier this week, news broke that conversations from Anthropic's Claude AI could be accessed through a Google dork (translation: advanced search query). Yes, people had already shared these conversations with others via active links. But I'm sure they never imagined that the topics discussed could be exposed to anyone with some search savvy.
Also: 5 reasons you should be more tight-lipped with your chatbot (and how to fix past mistakes)
Anthropic quickly fixed the "exploit" to disable this type of indexing. But the question remains: Just how private are your AI conversations? In part, that depends on you. Though the AI companies don't always make it easy, they do offer controls through which you're able to manage your own privacy.
Toward that end, let's look at four of the major AI chatbots and cover the steps to tighten your privacy as much as possible.
Don't want your conversations in ChatGPT tracked or saved? You can chat with the AI without an account. Even if you have one, just log out before you submit your query. Certain advanced features won't be available, and you'll hit lower thresholds. But if you don't want to expose specific conversations, this is certainly an option.
If you are signed in with your account and don't want your next chat saved to your history, make it a temporary one. At the ChatGPT window, click the circular "Turn on Temporary Chat" icon in the upper right. The prompt field will turn black while a notice tells you how it works. You still may not want to share anything too sensitive. But at least you can discuss more personal topics since the chatbot won't remember any of it.
OpenAI trains its ChatGPT model in part based on your conversations. Though the shared data isn't associated with your name and account, you might still want to turn off this option to prevent any personal information from being shared. Click your account name at the bottom of the left pane. Select Settings and go to Data controls. If the option for "Improve the model for everyone" is turned on, click it and turn it off.
ChatGPT gives you the ability to share a conversation via X, LinkedIn, Reddit, or through a regular link. But as long as your conversation exists, that link remains active. Think about the possible downsides of sharing a chat this way, especially if it deals with a sensitive or personal topic.
You can easily remove any past conversation of a sensitive nature so it's no longer accessible. Just click the ellipsis icon next to the chat and select Delete. Click Delete again to confirm your action.
As with ChatGPT, you can chat with Gemini in temporary mode. Your conversation won't appear in your chat history and won't be used to train Gemini or personalize your experience. To set this up, click the Temporary chat button next to New chat in the left sidebar. Gemini explains how the temporary chat works. Enter and submit your request. Temporary chats are retained but only for 72 hours.
By default, Google uses your conversations with Gemini to train the AI. Though the data is supposed to be anonymized, you might still balk at this capability. But herein lies a problem. The only way to prevent AI training on your data is to stop Google from storing and using your previous chats. This means that your conversations won't show up in Google's activity history or in your own chat history.
Also: How to use Gemini to plan your next summer vacation - in minutes
That's a major drawback. Still, if you want to opt out of AI training and don't need to view your chat history, this is your only option. Sign in to the Gemini Apps Activity page with your Google account or click the Settings icon at the bottom of the left pane. Select Activity. If the Keep activity setting is turned on, click the drop-down button and choose Turn off. Here, you can also delete all activity if you wish.
If you choose to turn off this option but not delete all activity, scroll down the screen to review your past interactions with Gemini. Click the X button next to any activity you wish to remove for privacy reasons.
As with the other AIs, you can opt to share a chat. For this, click the three-dot icon next to the chat and select Share conversation. A public link is automatically created. At some point, though, you should review the conversations with public links to delete any you no longer want accessible. To do this, click the Settings icon and select "Your public links." Click the trash can icon of the conversation for the link you want to delete. To remove them all, click the Delete all links button at the top. The links are deleted, but the conversations are still accessible to you from your history.
With Gemini Live, you can converse with Google's AI by voice. But the company is able to use audio recordings of your chats and any screenshots shared during a live conversation. Some recordings are even sent to human reviewers, albeit anonymously. Still, you can turn off this option. Go to Settings and select Activity. If the box is checked for "Improve Google services with your audio and Gemini Live videos & screenshares," then uncheck it and click the Turn off button to confirm your action.
With the Personal Intelligence Memory enabled, Gemini remembers your past chats and learns from them to better understand your interests, preferences, and other personal details. Though this helps the AI tailor its responses to you, you may not want it to remember everything. To disable this, go to Settings and select Personal Intelligence. If the switch for Memory is turned on, just turn it off.
Microsoft can use your text and voice conversations as training material for Copilot. Don't like that? You can easily disable it. At the Copilot website or desktop apps, click your account name at the bottom of the left pane, select Settings, and then click Privacy. In the mobile app for iOS or Android, tap the three-lined icon at the top left, select your account icon at the bottom, select Account, and then click Privacy. Turn off the switches for both "Training on conversation activity" and "Training on voice conversations."
You can share a conversation in Copilot a couple of different ways depending on whether you're using the website, one of the desktop apps, or one of the mobile apps. On the website or in one of the desktop apps, click the ellipsis icon next to the chat you want to share, select "Send a copy" from the menu, and then click the "Copy link" button.
Also: Windows questions? How Copilot can analyze your PC settings now
In the iOS or Android app, press down on the chat you want to share, select Share, tap the Share button, and then tap the Copy button.
Now, maybe you want to delete the link for a shared conversation without getting rid of the conversation itself. Go to the Privacy screen under Settings and select Manage Shared Links. Select the X or trash can icon next to the conversation and choose Revoke.
Next, you can delete any conversation you no longer want saved in Copilot's history. On the website or in one of the desktop apps, click the ellipsis icon next to the conversation you want to remove, select Delete, and then click Delete again to confirm your action.
In the iOS or Android app, press down on the conversation, select Delete, and then tap "Delete conversation" to confirm the deletion.
Copilot can remember details from your conversations and any tidbits you share. You may not mind that as the AI will use that information to personalize its responses to you. But Copilot may also be able to vacuum up your data from Bing, MSN, Edge, and other Microsoft products you use. Thankfully, you can disable either option or both of them.
Also: How to remap the Windows 11 Copilot key and restore your missing Right Ctrl button
For this, go to Settings and select Memory. Turn off the switch for "Microsoft usage data" to prevent Copilot from using information from your Microsoft products and services. You can then also turn off the switch for "Personalization and memory" so that Copilot doesn't remember anything about you. With the mobile apps, you're also able to erase all items already stored in memory.
Copilot can connect to external services such as Microsoft OneDrive, Outlook, Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Calendar. With those connections in place, the AI is able to search, view, and analyze files and data from those services. That capability comes in handy if you ask Copilot to work with your files. But this is another area where you may be uncomfortable with that type of access. To check this, go to Settings and select Connectors. If any service is connected and you wish to sever the link, just turn off its switch.
Don't want Claude saving or remembering a sensitive chat? You can launch it in incognito mode. At the New Chat screen, click the ghost icon in the upper right. You can now conduct your conversation knowing that it won't be stored by the AI.
This is the feature that triggered the recent concerns and complaints in the first place. Yes, you can share your conversations in Claude via public links. But be careful what you share and how you share it.
Also: I use Anthropic's Claude AI tools for very different jobs: How to pick between models
If you want to share your current conversation, click the Share icon in the upper right. At the Chat Shared window, you can choose among three options. The first one for "Keep private" means that only you have access. The second for "Share with your Team" lets you share the chat with your team, but this works only with the Claude AI team plan. The third and default option for "Create public link" allows anyone who receives or sees the link to view your conversation. Choose your preferred option and then share or copy the link.
Review the conversations you've shared to delete any you no longer wish to be public. To do this, click your account name at the bottom of the right pane and select Settings. At the Settings window, select Privacy and then click the Manage button for Shared chats. Click the trash can icon for the specific chat. The link is deleted, but the conversation remains accessible in your history.
By default, the AI training option in Claude is turned off. But you may still want to double-check to ensure that your chats aren't being shared for this purpose. Head to Settings and select Privacy. Turn off the switch for "Help improve our AI models" if it's turned on.
As with other AIs, Claude can remember your conversations and other details that you share. The goal is to better personalize its responses. But if you'd rather it not store such information, you can easily disable this option. Go to Settings and select Memory. Turn off the switch for "Generate memory from chats" if it's turned on. You can then pause the memory feature to disable it but retain any existing memories or reset the memory to turn it off and remove any existing memories.
