AI image and video generators may receive more than a prompt: uploads, files, generated results, and related activity can also be collected or retained. Whether that material can be used to improve models, reviewed by people, or deleted—and how quickly—depends on the exact service, account, and feature. Before uploading a sensitive image, check the product’s current terms and settings, then share only what the task requires.
Can an AI generator use your images to train its models?
Sometimes. Some consumer services may use submitted content to improve models, depending on settings. Other offerings—such as certain business workspaces or paid APIs—have different defaults. An opt-out is not the same as deleting material already submitted, and it may not disable retention for safety, legal, or abuse-prevention purposes.
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For ChatGPT consumer services, OpenAI says prompts, images, and files may be used to improve model performance depending on user settings. To turn off future use, go to Settings > Data controls and switch off “Improve the model for everyone,” or opt out through OpenAI’s privacy portal. The setting applies to new conversations. OpenAI says business, Enterprise, Edu, Healthcare workspaces, and API content are not used to improve models by default. Submitting feedback can make the associated conversation eligible for improvement even if you have opted out. See OpenAI’s consumer data-use guidance.
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Google’s paid Gemini Developer API has a stated commitment not to use prompts and responses to improve products. That is not a promise that every API feature has zero retention: feature-specific logging and storage still apply. Gemini Apps and Google Flow have their own policies and should not be treated as equivalent to the paid API.
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Midjourney’s privacy policy says it collects prompts, including text and images, as well as other content users submit. Its privacy FAQ describes account privacy preferences but does not establish a universal model-training opt-out equivalent to ChatGPT’s setting. Check the current terms and account controls for the exact service you use.
What happens to uploaded images, videos, and prompts?
Uploads and prompts can be personal data. Provider notices describe collecting text prompts, photos, videos, files, generated outputs, and usage or account information. Depending on the product, material may be stored with a conversation, project, activity history, file library, or generation session. A generated image or video can also contain personal information about people shown in it.
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Human review and service-provider access are separate from model training. OpenAI says a limited number of authorized personnel and service providers may access consumer content for stated support, safety, security, legal, or model-improvement purposes, under access controls and confidentiality and security obligations. OpenAI also says content may be stored on its systems and service-provider systems in the US and elsewhere. Google says some Gemini Apps chats may be reviewed by human reviewers; reviewed chats and related data can be retained for up to three years even after activity deletion. Google Flow says a sample of data may be read, annotated, and processed by reviewers, and that uploads and tool outputs are disconnected from the account before reviewers see or annotate them.
For a consumer service, follow the provider’s own warning. OpenAI advises: “Please do not enter sensitive information that you would not want reviewed or used.” Google’s Flow notice similarly says not to submit confidential information or data you would not want a reviewer to see or Google to use to improve its products, services, and machine-learning technologies.
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How retention and deletion differ by product
Deleting a chat or turning off model improvement does not necessarily remove every copy of an upload or generated result. Separate features can have separate storage rules.
| Service and context | What the provider says about storage or deletion |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT consumer | Deleted chats are scheduled for permanent deletion within 30 days, subject to exceptions for content already de-identified and disassociated from the account or retained for legal or security reasons. A file saved in Library is separate: deleting its chat does not delete the file; delete it from Library too. OpenAI consumer data-use guidance and Chat and file retention in ChatGPT. |
| Gemini Apps | Gemini Apps Activity has an 18-month default auto-delete setting; users can change it to 3 months, 36 months, or indefinite, and can manually delete chats. Chats reviewed by human reviewers and related data may be retained for up to three years after activity deletion. The notice covers signed-in Gemini Apps; signed-out use is addressed under Google’s broader Privacy Policy. Gemini Apps Privacy Hub. |
| Google Flow | The notice effective May 19, 2026 says prompts, uploads, projects, generated outputs (including images and videos), and associated metadata are stored by default until deleted. Agent and Tools sessions are stored for 18 months by default. Google Flow Privacy Notice. |
| Paid Gemini Developer API | Prompts and responses may be logged for a limited period for abuse monitoring. When grounding with Google Search or Maps, prompts, context, and outputs are stored for 30 days. The Interactions API stores state by default unless store is set to false. A Live API session handle can retain text, audio, and video state for up to 24 hours. File API uploads remain stored until deleted or expired. Google directs workloads needing guaranteed zero retention or enterprise data-processing agreements to Vertex AI. Zero data retention in the Gemini Developer API. |
| Midjourney | Its FAQ says personal data is retained as long as necessary for permissible purposes and may be retained to meet legal obligations. It directs users to the account deletion flow to request deletion. Midjourney Privacy Policy and Data Deletion and Privacy FAQ. |
These periods are specific to the listed product and condition; they are not universal deletion guarantees. Policies and interfaces can change, so check the current notice before high-sensitivity use.
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Steps to reduce privacy exposure before you upload
- Identify the exact product and account type. Confirm whether you are using a consumer app, paid API, or managed business workspace. A provider’s policy for one offering may not cover another.
- Check the controls that apply to your use. Look for model-improvement settings, activity and history controls, shared links, file libraries, projects, and generated-output galleries. Read the matching privacy notice, including any regional terms that apply to your account.
- Disable optional model improvement if you do not want future submissions used that way. Confirm what the setting covers and when it takes effect. For ChatGPT consumer services, the opt-out applies to new conversations; it does not itself erase past material or remove the feedback exception.
- Minimize what the image or video reveals. Crop or blur faces, addresses, screens, documents, license plates, location clues, and private background details that are not needed for the result. This reduces unnecessary exposure but is not a guarantee that a person or place cannot be identified.
- Keep high-risk material out unless the terms and controls are acceptable. Avoid uploading secrets, confidential client work, private health or financial documents, or intimate images to a consumer generator unless the applicable terms and approved organizational safeguards explicitly allow it.
- Check every place the material may be stored when deleting it. Review chat history, file libraries, projects, upload managers, generated-output galleries, shared or public links, and account deletion settings. Removing one object may leave another under separate retention rules.
What to check before choosing a generator
Do not judge a service as “private” based on one toggle. Compare the exact product and plan on the points that affect your work:
- Whether consumer prompts and uploads may be used to improve models, and whether the control applies only to future submissions.
- Whether feedback has different treatment from ordinary prompts.
- What deleting an account, conversation, file, project, or output removes—and the stated timeline and exceptions.
- Whether human reviewers or service providers may access content, and for which purposes.
- Default retention for uploads, generated media, projects, and sessions.
- Whether you are using a consumer app, paid API, or managed business plan, and whether regional terms change the applicable notice.
For work that requires contractual data-processing terms or a specific retention commitment, confirm those requirements with the provider before sending the material. A product’s general privacy page may not establish that a particular account or feature meets them.
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Privacy risks when real people appear in generated media
Consent matters when a prompt or reference depicts an identifiable person, and when a generated result could mislead or harm them. On February 23, 2026, the European Data Protection Board and co-signatories warned that image and video generation tools have enabled non-consensual intimate imagery, defamatory depictions, and other harmful content featuring real individuals. The statement calls for safeguards, transparency, and accessible ways to request removal of harmful content involving personal information. It is regulator guidance about risks and safeguards, not a claim that every generator permits such content. See the EDPB joint statement.
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