# Google uses your search photos and videos to train AI. Here's how to opt out

*Published:* 2026-07-08
*Author:* Farzan Hussain

![](https://bestforandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Guy-using-Google-to-search-photos.jpg)

Google updated its Search privacy settings so that images, audio, files, and video you send through Search, Lens, Maps, Translate, and a few other services can now be used to train Google’s AI, and the setting is on by default. Google Photos is not included. This is specifically about what you actively send to Search tools.

It’s something that sounds small until you begin to think back through what you’ve actually searched. A photo of a prescription bottle to check a dosage. A voice searched question you asked half-asleep. A business document run through Translate that contained sensitive information.

None of that felt like the data was going anywhere. But in reality, all of that was being used by Google to train its AI models.

What Google actually changed
----------------------------

The update, as noticed by [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/06/if-you-use-google-youre-training-its-ai-heres-how-to-opt-out/), introduced two new settings, Search Services History and Personalized Recommendations, replacing the older single Web & App Activity toggle for this purpose.

![](https://bestforandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Google-My-Activity-Search-Services.jpg)

Search Services History is what controls whether your Lens photos, voice searches, and uploaded files get saved and used to improve Google’s AI models. According to Google’s own [support documentation](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/17028154?hl=en), that saved media can be retained for up to four years, even after you disconnect it from your account.

Why privacy researchers are flagging this one
---------------------------------------------

Calli Schroeder, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told [HuffPost](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/google-search-setting-privacy-ai_l_6a2c4630e4b0ba7a1fed2872) that voice recordings and facial images count as biometric data. That search history has been subpoenaed before.

“Think really hard if you’re comfortable with Google having a picture of your kid, or having a picture of you in a swimsuit that you’re trying to find the maker of,” said Schroeder.

If you’ve used a personal Google account for anything work-related, a whiteboard photo, a client voice memo, that’s now in scope too, and most people have no idea it’s happening.

How to opt out
--------------

1. Go to [My Google Activity](https://myactivity.google.com/) (myactivity.google.com)
2. Open Search Services History, and
3. Uncheck “Save Media.”

![](https://bestforandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Google-Search-Services-History-Settings.jpg)

You can do that without turning off your entire search history if you still want the convenience features.

If you’d rather shut the whole thing down, you might want to turn off Search Services History entirely.

If Web & App Activity was already off on your account, Google says that preference carries forward automatically, so you may already be covered.

None of this fixes what’s already been collected. Turning the setting off stops new uploads from being used; it doesn’t delete what Google already has, so if you want that gone, there is no way to delete it yourself until the period of up to 48 months has passed.