How to prevent the AI ​​you are using from training with your data

There is a lot to consider when it comes to deciding whether you want to interact with the many generative ai robots that are now available within our apps. These include, for starters, the ethics of copyright use, increasing energy demands, and declining human creativity.

Another thing to keep in mind when using these tools is that they will often use your flesh and blood human input to further train their underlying models. While some ai companies make efforts anonymizing this data is something you may not feel comfortable with. The good news is that, in most cases, you can find a setting to turn off training.

Disabling ai training is not the same as clearing your ai chatbot's history, although they are linked. Your chats can still be used for training purposes before they are deleted, and you may want to keep your chat history in place, but at the same time prevent ai companies from using your data to refine the model.

Here are instructions on how to disable ai training in various ai or ai support applications.

Click on your profile photo (top right) and then choose Settings > Data Control and turn it off using the Improve the model for everyone toggle switch.

Tap the menu button (top left), then the three dots next to your account name to find the Data controls screen and the Improve the model for everyone toggle switch.

Click on your account image (top right), then click on your name and Privacy. You get two toggle switches that you can turn off: Model training in text. and Model training in voice..

These toggle switches are located in a nearly identical location in the Copilot mobile app. Tap your account image (top right), then Account and Privacy.

With Gemini, you must disable chat history to prevent your chats from being used to train the ai; there is no option to configure them separately, as with ChatGPT and Copilot.

On the web, click Activity (bottom left); In the mobile app, click on your account image (top right) and then Gemini App Activity. In any case, on the next screen, look for Gemini App Activity next to a switch or button that will turn it on or off.

Depending on the screen, your chat will remain for 72 hours whether or not you have disabled app activity. When activity logging is disabled, when you start a new chat, you will receive a message stating that the current one will be deleted.

Click gear icon by your username (bottom right), then turn off the ai data retention toggle switch (low Account) to prevent your data from being used for training.

Tap your account image (top left) to find the Use of ai data toggle switch: It's a slightly different label, but the function is the same.

Choose More > Settings and privacy > Privacy and security > Grok and external collaborators and uncheck the box.

Tap on your account avatar (top left), then you will have access to it Settings and privacy menu.

Click your profile photo at the top of the page, then Settings and privacy > Data privacy to find the Data for the improvement of generative ai toggle switch.

To find the switch in the mobile app, tap your profile photo (top left), then Settings > Data Privacy > Data for Generative ai Improvement.

Of all the apps and services listed so far, Meta is the most obtuse when it comes to informing users how their data is used for ai training and giving them options to disable it. Can <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/privacy/genai”>read the data policy here– Private messages are prohibited (unless you invite the ai ​​to the chat), but apparently everything else is fair game, including pictures of you posted by other people.

In Europe and the United Kingdom, you can object to this data collection by sending <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/6359191084165019″>this well hidden waywhich is labeled as a “right to object” form. In America, however, all you have is a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/1266025207620918″>alternative way “to submit requests related to your personal information from third parties that are used to develop and improve the ai ​​on Meta.” First, check “I have a concern about my personal information from third parties that is related to a response I received from an ai model, feature, or experience in Meta.” Then, in the form that appears, you must explicitly explain (and provide screenshots) how your personal data was used.

Can't you do that? Then there's not much else you can do. If your facebook or instagram account runs Meta ai, you can mute the chatbot by going to search and clicking blue arrow, and then in the blue circle (the one with an “i”). Select Mute and from the list of options, choose until I change it.

Finally, several sites suggest that you can use <a target="_blank" href="http://mbasic.facebook.com/”>mbasic.facebook.coma very basic version of the app, assuming you want to go that far.

For other apps that use ai, it's worth digging into the settings and privacy policies to see exactly how your data is processed.

Policies can differ widely. Earlier this year, Adobe updated its Privacy Policy to confirm that it would not train its ai on user images. On the other hand, Reddit has signed a deal with OpenAI to train ai on user posts, and there's nothing you can do about it except not use Reddit.

Even in apps and services that don't use your data for ai training, if your content is made public or accessed by third-party developers, ai robots may still collect it. As always, be careful what you post and share.