How to Stop ChatGPT and Other AI Tools Training on Your Data

Pasting confidential material into consumer AI tools can expose more than a single prompt. According to the source article, the risk is that some chat interfaces use user conversations to improve future models unless training is turned off or a business plan is used.

The article says this matters for businesses, startups, and professionals handling proprietary information such as product roadmaps, contracts, code, marketing copy, and trading logic. It cites a Cyberhaven study saying 11% of data employees paste into AI models for business is confidential, and says that number is rising.

The core distinction, according to the piece, is between consumer chat apps and API or enterprise usage. OpenAI’s consumer tools such as ChatGPT may use chats for model training unless users opt out, while API submissions are not used for training by default. Anthropic’s Claude, the article says, does not train on user conversations from individual plans by default, but API data is treated differently.

The article also says “training on your data” does not mean a model stores a full copy of every prompt in the same way a document archive would. Instead, the model adjusts its weights based on input, which can create a risk of unintentional memorization. In practical terms, the source says a model can sometimes regurgitate a prompt or a proprietary pattern if asked in the right way.

For ChatGPT, the article points readers to the Data controls section under Settings & Beta. There, it says users should turn off the toggle labeled “Improve the model for everyone” or “Chat history & training,” depending on the interface. It also says the setting may need to be changed separately on each device.

The article treats ChatGPT’s Memory feature as a separate issue. Memory stores facts about a user to personalize responses, and the source says it should be cleared regularly if sensitive information has been entered. For short-lived work, it recommends Temporary Chats, which it compares to private browsing.

The article also warns about custom GPTs and third-party tools in the GPT Store. According to the source, these tools may call external APIs, which means data could leave OpenAI’s standard environment and be handled by another developer.

Google’s Gemini is presented as another system that needs explicit privacy changes. The article says Gemini conversations are saved by default and reviewed by human raters unless users turn off Gemini Apps Activity at myactivity.google.com. It also says Google separates Gemini Apps Activity from Web & App Activity, so disabling one does not disable the other.

For Claude, the article says individual plans do not train on user chats by default, but users should avoid rating sensitive outputs with thumbs up or thumbs down because those conversations may be stored for review and reinforcement learning from human feedback, or RLHF. It also says the API has separate commercial terms.

The article closes by urging users not to send private keys, seed phrases, unredacted legal documents, or patient records to public chat tools. It recommends using API or enterprise plans for sensitive work, redacting documents before analysis, and asking providers for zero-retention handling where available.