What ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Copilot do with your chats, and how to opt out

Guide type

Settings guide + checklist

Risk if skipped

Medium

Time

10 min for all four

Cost

Free

Works on

Web, phone & desktop apps

Last verified

2026-10-05

The four chatbots compared

	Trains on your chats by default?	Setting to turn it off	Private mode	Notes
ChatGPT	Yes (personal plans)	Improve the model for everyone	Temporary chat, kept up to 30 days for safety	Deleted chats are removed from OpenAI's systems within 30 days
Gemini	Yes, while Keep Activity is on (on by default for adults)	Keep Activity	Temporary chat, kept 72 hours	Chats reviewed by humans are kept up to 3 years, even if you delete them
Claude	Your choice: you are asked when you sign up	Help improve our AI models (in Privacy settings)	Incognito chat, kept 30 days	If allowed, chats can be kept de-identified for up to 5 years
Copilot (Microsoft, personal)	Yes, unless you opt out	Training on conversation activity, and Training on voice conversations	None listed in Microsoft's privacy controls; delete chats you don't want kept	Opting out does not stop use for advertising, safety or "general product improvements"

Work and school accounts are different: OpenAI does not train on ChatGPT Business, Enterprise or Edu content by default, Google says Gemini with a work or school account may follow different data terms, and Claude's commercial plans are covered by separate terms. If your employer provides the account, ask your IT team what applies.

Turn it off, service by service

1. ChatGPT

   On the web: open your account menu › Settings › Data controls › turn off Improve the model for everyone › Done. On iPhone or Android: open the sidebar, tap your profile icon › Data controls › turn it off. The setting follows your account to every device.

   Two catches from OpenAI's own help pages: your old chats stay in your history (delete them separately if you want them gone), and if you press thumbs up or down on an answer, the whole conversation may be used for training even after you opt out. For a private question, open a new chat and select Temporary.

2. Gemini

   Go to gemini.google.com › Settings & help › Activity › Turn off (or Turn off and delete activity). You can also go straight to myactivity.google.com/product/gemini.

   With Keep Activity off, Google says your future chats won't be used to train its AI models and won't appear in your activity, but are still kept with your account for up to 72 hours. While it is on, a subset of chats is read by human reviewers, and Google asks you not to enter anything you wouldn't want a reviewer to see. If you leave it on, at least shorten Auto-delete from the default 18 months to 3 months on the same page. For one-off private questions, click Temporary chat next to New chat.

3. Claude

   Click your name › Settings › Privacy (or go to claude.ai/settings/data-privacy-controls) and turn off Help improve our AI models. On the phone app it is the same path: your name › Settings › Privacy.

   Anthropic says that once it is off, your previous and new chats are not used in future training runs, though models already trained on them are not changed. For a private conversation, start a new chat and click the ghost icon in the top right to make it an incognito chat. Thumbs up or down feedback is kept for five years, so skip it on sensitive chats.

4. Microsoft Copilot

   On copilot.com: select your profile icon, then your profile name › Privacy. In the Windows or Mac app: profile icon › Settings › Privacy. On the phone: menu › profile icon › Account › Privacy. Turn off both Training on conversation activity and Training on voice conversations.

   Microsoft notes that this stops training on your future conversations only; they can still be used for advertising, safety and other product improvements described in its privacy statement.

5. Check what each one remembers about you

   ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Copilot can all remember details across conversations to personalize answers. Memory is separate from training: turning training off does not erase memories. Open the memory or personalization section in each app's settings, read what it has saved, and delete anything you would not want quoted back to you, or to someone else using your device.

Your AI privacy checklist

Tick each item as you finish it. Your progress is saved on this device only. These settings change often, so the checklist suggests a date to look again.

What never to type into a chatbot

Don't paste	Why	Do this instead
Passwords, recovery codes, one-time codes	Anyone who gets into the account, or reads the chat, gets in everywhere	Keep them in a password manager
Card, bank, Social Security or passport numbers	The chatbot does not need them to answer	Replace them with "XXXX"
Screenshots of documents or emails	They often show addresses, account numbers and other people's names you did not notice	Crop or blur first, or type out only the part you need
Other people's health, legal or money details	They did not agree to share them	Describe the situation without names
Client files or unreleased business plans	Personal accounts are not covered by your company's contracts	Use the business plan your company pays for, or nothing

Running a business? Add a line about AI tools to your staff rules: which ones are approved, and what never goes into them. It fits next to the other items in our small business cybersecurity checklist. And because AI also powers the newest scams, make sure your family knows the warning signs in our guide to AI voice clone scams.

Sources

• OpenAI — Data controls in ChatGPT
• OpenAI — Temporary chat in ChatGPT
• OpenAI — Chat and file retention in ChatGPT
• Google — Gemini Apps Privacy Hub
• Google — Manage and delete your activity in Gemini Apps
• Anthropic — How do I change my model improvement privacy settings?
• Anthropic — How long do you store my data?
• Anthropic — Using incognito chats
• Microsoft — Microsoft Copilot privacy controls