ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini All Train on Your Chats by Default Now. The Off Switch Doesn't Delete Anything
The confusion here is reasonable. A toggle labeled "improve the model" or "help improve Claude" reads like a preference about the product, not a data-sharing decision, and none of the three apps make that distinction obvious at the moment you flip the switch.
Business and API accounts are the exception across the board: Team, Enterprise, Education, and Claude for Work plans, plus every API call to any of the three, default to no training at all. This piece is specifically about what happens on an ordinary, personal account.
| Provider | Consumer default | Toggle location | Turning it off also deletes past chats? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Training on | Settings, Data Controls, Improve the model for everyone | No. New chats get roughly a 30-day retention window before deletion, per OpenAI's own help article. |
| Claude | Training on, since Aug 2025 | Settings, Privacy, Help Improve Claude | No, and safety-flagged chats can still be kept regardless of this setting, per Anthropic's privacy center. |
| Gemini | Training on, accounts 18+ | Gemini app, Settings, Keep Activity | No, you must separately choose "Turn off and delete activity," per Google's Gemini Apps Privacy Hub. |
Anthropic's carve-out that undercuts a clean opt-out
Anthropic's policy has a wrinkle worth knowing even after switching Help Improve Claude off: conversations flagged by its automated safety systems can still be used and retained for trust-and-safety purposes regardless of that setting, per Anthropic's own model-training help article. Flagged inputs and outputs can be kept for up to two years, and the classification scores tied to them for up to seven.
5 years
how long Anthropic can retain de-identified chats if Help Improve Claude stays on
per Anthropic's privacy center. Turning it off drops new chats back to the standard 30-day window.
18 months
how long Google keeps your Gemini Apps Activity by default before auto-deleting it
adjustable to 3 months, 36 months, or never, per Google's own activity controls page.
72 hours
minimum time Google keeps every Gemini chat, even with Keep Activity switched off
held briefly for abuse prevention regardless of your setting, per Google's Gemini Apps Privacy Hub.
Oct 8, 2025
deadline Anthropic gave existing Claude.ai users to accept training-by-default terms
The exact toggle for each one
- 1ChatGPT: Settings, Data Controls, turn off Improve the model for everyone. This only affects chats going forward.
- 2Claude: Settings, Privacy, turn off Help Improve Claude. Safety-flagged conversations can still be retained regardless.
- 3Gemini: open the Gemini app, Settings, Keep Activity, and choose Turn off and delete activity if you also want existing history erased, not just future chats stopped.
- 4None of these settings apply retroactively to a model that has already finished training on your older conversations. The toggle only controls what happens next.
Do ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini train on my conversations by default?
Yes, on personal Free, Plus, Pro, and equivalent tier accounts as of September 2026. Business, Enterprise, Education, and API accounts across all three default to no training.
If I turn off the training toggle, does it delete my past chats?
No. All three treat training and history deletion as separate settings. You need an additional step, like Google's "Turn off and delete activity," to erase what's already stored.
Can Anthropic still use my chats even with Help Improve Claude turned off?
Conversations flagged by Anthropic's automated safety systems can still be used and retained for trust-and-safety purposes regardless of that setting.
Does using the API instead of the consumer app change anything?
Yes. API usage across OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google defaults to no training, separate from the consumer app policies described here.
Is there a way to keep my chat history but stop training?
Yes, on all three. Turning off the training toggle alone keeps existing history intact while opting future chats out of training data.
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