请把这当作一条迟来的提醒:谷歌近期对其隐私设置进行了调整,允许该公司存储更多用户数据,包括“图片、文件、音频和视频录制”等媒体内容,以改进其 AI 模型。换句话说,如果你向谷歌的搜索服务上传任何媒体内容,这些数据都将被用于训练 AI,除非你选择退出。
这一变化源于谷歌搜索服务隐私设置的一次低调更新,该公司于今年 6 月通过客户邮件宣布了此事。通过此次更新,谷歌实质上是在“让用户更好地控制已保存的历史记录和个性化推荐”的幌子下,默认将用户纳入了这种扩大化的 AI 训练。

谷歌现在也在用你的媒体内容训练 AI
此次更新引入了两项新设置:“搜索服务历史记录”和“个性化推荐”,你可以通过它们配置自己的活动数据如何用于个性化谷歌体验,以及网页和应用活动数据的保存时长。
此次更新不仅适用于谷歌搜索本身,还涵盖了其他搜索服务,例如地图、购物、航班、酒店、翻译和新闻。
例如,当你使用谷歌镜头拍照进行视觉搜索时,这张图片现在可能会被保存下来用于 AI 训练。
同样,如果你使用较新的“实时搜索”功能,通过谷歌应用中的语音输入进行搜索,这些音频录制内容以及任何其他谷歌语音搜索记录都可能被保存。如果你使用谷歌翻译练习口语,那段音频也会被保存。
这些变化反映出整个行业正转向通过一切必要手段收集数据以改进 AI 服务的大趋势。谷歌等公司不再仅仅依赖从网络上抓取信息,而是越来越多地收集用户在使用其服务时上传或创建的数据。Meta 是另一个大规模这样做的面向消费者的科技公司,它利用用户的图片和媒体内容,以及其 AI 眼镜录制的内容来训练 AI。
谷歌直接确认了媒体训练用途,在发给客户的邮件中明确表示:“与您的搜索服务历史记录一样,您保存的媒体内容也用于开发和改进谷歌的服务与技术,包括 AI 模型和安全措施。”
其帮助文档也印证了这一点,指出该公司“利用您的历史记录来提供、开发和改进其服务(例如训练生成式 AI 模型),并在人工审核员的帮助下保护谷歌、其用户及公众。”
其中部分存储是临时性的,与产品正常运行相关,但根据谷歌自身的表述,保存的媒体内容也可能被专门保留下来用于训练其 AI。
调整您的设置
好消息是您对此有一定控制权。您可以在“搜索服务历史记录”和“搜索服务个性化”页面上更改偏好设置。在前一页面中,您可以单独取消勾选“保存媒体”框(与“搜索服务历史记录”框分开),或同时取消勾选两者。您还可以配置保存数据的自动删除频率——可选择 3 个月、18 个月或 36 个月后删除。
从那里,您可以跳转到此页面深入了解其他隐私设置,包括“网页与应用活动”、“时间线”、“YouTube 历史记录”等。

除了保存的媒体内容,谷歌还会利用您的搜索历史、位置信息以及您访问网站的其他数据,在谷歌平台上为您提供个性化体验,包括展示哪些广告。
在此次更新之前,谷歌允许您通过“网页与应用活动”设置来配置保存哪些历史搜索数据。现在,该设置已拆分为两项:一项是“网页与应用活动”数据,另一项是新的“搜索数据”设置(默认开启)。
这意味着,如果您为了选择不让这家科技巨头存储您的数据而修改“网页与应用活动”的数据保留设置,此次更新后该操作将不再影响您对谷歌搜索服务的使用,因为现在它已是一个独立的选项。
Consider this a belated PSA: A recent change to Google’s privacy settings is allowing the company to store more of your data, including media such as “images, files, and audio and video recordings,” to improve its AI models. In other words, if you upload any media to Google’s Search services, it’s being used to train AI unless you opt out.
The change came about via an under-the-radar update to Google’s Search services privacy settings, announced in June via a customer email. With the update, the company essentially opted people into this expanded AI training under the guise of giving users more control over their saved history and personalized recommendations.

Google is now training on your media, too
The update introduced two new settings, Search Services History and Personalized Recommendations, allowing you to configure how your activity is used to personalize your Google experience and how long your web and app activity is saved.
This update applies beyond Google Search itself, and also includes other search services such as Maps, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Translate, and News.
For instance, when you use Google Lens to search for something visually by snapping a photo, that image may now be saved for AI training.
Similarly, if you use the newer Search Live feature to search via voice input in the Google app, those audio recordings could be saved, as can any other Google voice search. If you use Google Translate to practice speaking, that audio is saved, too.
The changes reflect a broader industry shift toward gathering data by any means necessary to improve AI services. Instead of relying solely on information scraped from the web, Google and others are increasingly collecting data that people upload or create when using their services. Meta is another example of a consumer-facing tech company doing this at scale, training its AI on users’ images and media, as well as on content recorded by its AI glasses.
Google confirms the media-training use directly, stating in that email to customers: “Like your Search Services History, your saved media is also used to develop and improve Google services and technologies, including AI models and safety measures.”
Its help documentation echoes this, noting that the company “uses your history to provide, develop, and improve its services (such as training generative AI models) and to protect Google, its users, and the public with the help of human reviewers.”
Some of this storage is temporary and tied to making the product work, but per Google’s own language, saved media can also be retained specifically to train its AI.
Adjusting your settings
The good news is you have some control here. You can change your preferences on the Search Services History and Search Services Personalization pages. On the former, you can uncheck the “Save Media” box separately from the “Search Services History” box, or uncheck both. You can also configure how often you want saved data automatically deleted — after 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months.
From there, you can jump to this page to dig into other privacy settings, including Web & App Activity, Timeline, YouTube History, and more.

Beyond saved media, Google also uses your search history, location, and other information from the websites you visit to personalize your experience on Google, including which ads are shown.
Before this update, Google let you configure what historical search data was saved via its “Web & App Activity” settings. That’s now been separated into two settings: the Web & App Activity data and the new Search data setting, which is on by default.
That means if you make a change to the Web & App Activity data retention settings in an effort to opt out of having your data stored by the tech giant, the update will no longer impact your use of Google Search services, as it’s now a separate option.