Does Gemini use my chats to train AI? (and how to turn it off)

You ask Gemini about a rash that won’t go away. Or to rewrite an angry message to your landlord. It answers in seconds, and it feels like a private conversation. What most people don’t know: unless you changed a setting, Google can use that chat to improve its AI, and a person may read it.

What Google does with your chats

It all comes down to one setting, Keep Activity. If you’re 18 or over, it’s on by default (Google). While it’s on:

• Your chats help train Google’s AI. Google uses your activity “to provide, develop, and improve its services”, which includes training generative AI models (Google).
• So do some of your uploads. In August 2025, Google announced that a sample of the files and photos you upload would be used to improve its services too (Google blog).
• Your voice isn’t, unless you say so. Audio, Gemini Live video and screen shares have their own setting, and that one is off by default (Google).
• No ads, for now. Google says your Gemini chats aren’t used to show you ads, and that it will tell you clearly if that changes (Google).

Yes, people can read them

To improve Gemini, human reviewers read some chats, including reviewers from companies Google hires. Chats are disconnected from your account before they go to those companies (Google).

Here’s the part that stings: reviewed chats are kept for up to 3 years, and deleting your activity doesn’t delete them, because they’re no longer linked to your account (Google). Google’s own advice is blunt: don’t enter confidential information “that you wouldn’t want a reviewer to see” (Google).

Turn it off, step by step

On a computer

1. Go to gemini.google.com.
2. Open Settings & help → Activity.
3. Near the top, click On, then Turn off. Or choose Turn off and delete activity to also clear what’s already saved (Google).

In the Gemini app

1. Tap Menu at the left.
2. Tap your profile picture or initial, then Gemini Apps Activity.
3. Tap On, then Turn off or Turn off and delete activity (Google).

Shortcut: myactivity.google.com/product/gemini. Don’t be thrown by the name: the app still says Gemini Apps Activity, which Google announced it would rename Keep Activity (Google blog).

What changes when it’s off

• No more training. Your future chats aren’t used to train Google’s AI models, unless you send feedback (Google).
• But not instantly gone. Gemini still keeps your chats with your account for up to 72 hours, to answer you and to protect against abuse. They don’t show up in your activity (Google).
• The past stays past. Chats that were already reviewed are kept for up to 3 years (Google).
• You lose a few things. Chats with Gems aren’t saved, and most connected apps stop working (Google).

Want to keep your history after all? Then at least shorten it. Gemini deletes activity after 18 months by default; you can pick 3 or 36 months, or turn auto-delete off, in the same Activity screen (Google).

Asking something personal? Melo, Kamelo’s free private chat, answers on your own computer, so your question isn’t sent anywhere. How it works

Just this once: a temporary chat

Don’t want to change your settings? For one personal question, click Temporary chat next to New chat (Google).

• It doesn’t appear in your recent chats or your activity, and it isn’t used to personalize Gemini or to train Google’s AI (Google blog).
• It’s still kept for up to 72 hours, to answer you and for safety, and humans may still review it for that (Google).
• It isn’t available in Gemini in Chrome or in Google Messages (Google).

Training isn’t the same as memory

Gemini can also remember your past chats to make its answers more personal. When it arrived in August 2025, that was on by default (Google blog). You turn it off under Settings & help → Personal context → Memory. It only works with Keep Activity on, so turning that off switches memory off too. Want Gemini to forget one thing? Delete every chat where you mentioned it from your activity (Google). With memory on, Gemini may also use sensitive things you told it to personalize your answers (Google).

Using Gemini through work or school? Then your admin controls these settings, and you may not be able to change them (Google). More on that: what your employer can see.

Where Kamelo helps

Turning off training is a good start, but your question still goes to Google and stays there for up to 72 hours. Kamelo helps before you send: when you type something personal on Gemini, ChatGPT or Claude, it suggests a temporary chat, or Melo, which answers on your own computer in Chrome, so your question isn’t sent to Google at all. Kamelo doesn’t change your message and can’t hide who you are to your AI account.