If you want an AI chat service that does not use ordinary conversations to improve its models, start with the provider’s model-training control—not with the word “private.” ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini each offer a way to limit model improvement, but none of those switches means that chats are never stored, processed, reviewed or exposed through feedback and connected tools.
The practical choice is to match the service and its settings to the information you plan to enter. The controls, exceptions and names below come from the providers’ current consumer guidance and can change by account type, country and product version, so verify the live setting before using a chat for sensitive work.
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What “doesn’t train on my conversations” actually means
“Training” is only one purpose for which a chat service may handle your text, files, images or voice. A provider can decline to use a conversation for model improvement while still processing it to generate a reply, detect abuse, enforce usage rules, maintain a history feature or investigate a safety report.
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Keep these questions separate when comparing services:
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- Model improvement: Can the provider use your conversation to train or improve a general-purpose model?
- Retention and history: Does the chat remain in your account or product history, and for how long? The policies compared here do not establish one common retention period.
- Safety processing: Can automated systems or people inspect content to prevent abuse, fraud or dangerous use?
- Feedback: Does pressing a thumbs-up, thumbs-down or similar control submit the associated conversation for improvement?
- Personalization and connected data: Are memories, files, voice inputs or information pulled from another app handled under a separate rule?
Therefore, “not used for training” should not be rewritten as “deleted,” “inaccessible to staff” or “end-to-end encrypted.” It is a narrower promise about one use of the data.
At-a-glance comparison
| Service | Main consumer control | What the provider says when the control is off | Temporary or incognito option | Important exception |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Settings > Data controls > Improve the model for everyone; individual-plan users can also use the privacy portal’s “Do not train on my content” choice. | New conversations are not used to train OpenAI models. | Temporary Chat does not appear in history, does not create or use memories, and is not used for model training. | If you submit feedback, OpenAI says the entire conversation associated with that feedback may be used for model improvement, even after opting out. |
| Claude | Anthropic’s consumer settings include a Model Improvement preference for Free, Pro and Max users. | The preference controls whether conversations are used to improve Claude. | Incognito chats are not used to improve Claude, even when Model Improvement is enabled. | Conversations flagged for safety review may be analyzed to improve policy enforcement and train safeguards models. |
| Gemini Apps | In Gemini Apps Activity, manage Keep Activity. Signed-in and signed-out experiences have different notices and controls. | With Keep Activity off, chats are still processed to provide responses and protect Google, its users and the public; human review can still occur for those purposes. | Temporary chats have separate model-improvement and review terms. Google says they are not used to improve Google AI with help from human reviewers, but they are not “never processed.” | When Keep Activity is on, connected-app data can contribute to service improvement and generative-AI training; some of that material may be reviewed by people. |
This table compares only claims made in the providers’ official consumer guidance. It does not establish a single “most private” winner or cover every AI chat product.
ChatGPT: turn off “Improve the model for everyone”
How to change the setting
- Open ChatGPT and open your account menu.
- Choose Settings, then Data controls.
- Turn off Improve the model for everyone. Individual-plan users can alternatively use the privacy portal’s Do not train on my content choice.
- Confirm that the setting remains off before starting a sensitive conversation, particularly after changing devices, accounts or workspaces.
OpenAI’s Help Center says that, with this control off, new conversations are not used to train OpenAI models. The wording is about future chats; it does not promise that an older conversation is retroactively removed from every system or explain a universal retention period. Read the current account notice for your plan and region.
What Temporary Chat changes
Temporary Chat is a separate mode. OpenAI says temporary chats do not appear in history, do not create or use memories and are not used for model training. Those statements concern the temporary-chat mode; they do not turn ordinary chats into temporary chats or eliminate all safety processing.
The feedback exception
Giving feedback can change the treatment of a conversation. OpenAI says that when a user submits feedback on a response, the entire conversation associated with that feedback may be used for model improvement even if the user previously opted out. Do not attach a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to a conversation that contains information you do not want considered for improvement.
When ChatGPT is a reasonable fit
ChatGPT’s control is straightforward for someone who wants ordinary new chats excluded from model training and who can avoid feedback submission for sensitive threads. You still need a separate decision about history, memories, files and any other feature enabled on your account; the training switch is not a blanket data-deletion command.
OpenAI’s current explanation is at How your data is used to improve model performance.
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Claude: use Model Improvement or Incognito chats
Model Improvement preference
Anthropic’s consumer guidance covers Free, Pro and Max plans and describes a Model Improvement choice. Use the account’s privacy or data settings to review that preference and keep it disabled if you do not want eligible conversations used to improve Claude. The label and location can change, so rely on the setting shown in your current account rather than an older screenshot.
Incognito chats
Anthropic says Incognito chats are not used to improve Claude even when the Model Improvement preference is enabled. Choose Incognito before entering the information that needs this treatment; changing a setting after a conversation has started should not be assumed to rewrite the handling of messages already sent.
Safety-review carve-out
“Not used to improve Claude” does not mean that every conversation is immune from review. Anthropic says conversations flagged for safety review may be used or analyzed to improve detection and enforcement of its Usage Policy, including training models for its safeguards team. This is a targeted safety exception, not a statement that all chats are routinely read by people.
When Claude is a reasonable fit
Claude offers two recognizable routes: disable Model Improvement for the account, or use Incognito for chats that should not improve Claude regardless of the account preference. If your priority is eliminating every possible form of provider processing or safety analysis, neither route makes that promise; the safety-review language remains part of the policy.
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Gemini Apps: Keep Activity, temporary chats and connected apps
Keep Activity controls model-improvement use
Google’s signed-in Gemini Apps guidance uses Keep Activity rather than a simple “train” switch. In Gemini Apps Activity, review whether Keep Activity is enabled and turn it off if you do not want future activity used to improve Google AI. Google’s privacy hub distinguishes signed-in from signed-out use, so the controls and notice that apply to your session matter.
Keep Activity off does not stop Gemini from handling a prompt. Google says chats are still processed to provide responses and to protect Google, its users and the public. The company also says human reviewers can assist with those purposes. Consequently, Keep Activity off is a model-improvement choice, not a promise that nobody can inspect a chat or that the service retains nothing.
Temporary chats have their own terms
Gemini’s temporary-chat option is separate from the Keep Activity setting. Google says temporary chats are not used to improve Google AI with help from human reviewers. It also says temporary chats are still processed, so do not describe them as never stored, never seen or never used for safety purposes. Read the temporary-chat notice presented in your current Gemini interface before relying on it.
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Connected Apps can broaden the data involved
Connecting another service to Gemini can expose more than the short prompt you typed. Google says Gemini Apps activity that includes connected-app data can be used to improve Google services, including training generative-AI models, when Keep Activity is on. The material may include prompts, responses, relevant summaries, excerpts, generated media and inferences from connected services.
Google says a subset of Connected Apps data may be reviewed by people. It describes steps such as disconnecting interactions from your Google Account and reducing personal information before review, subject to stated exceptions. These steps reduce direct identifiers; they do not make connected-app content equivalent to an offline, private notebook.
Google’s own Connected Apps guidance warns: “Please don’t connect apps to Gemini if they contain personal or confidential information that you wouldn’t want to be used for training generative AI models.” That advice applies to connected-app data and should not be generalized into a rule for every provider or every Gemini interaction.
When Gemini is a reasonable fit
Gemini can suit users who are willing to manage Keep Activity, avoid confidential connected apps and understand that turning the setting off still permits response generation and protective processing. Treat connected-app permissions as a separate risk decision from ordinary chat prompts.
Review Google’s Gemini Apps Privacy Hub and its About personalization with Connected Apps guidance. The hub lists a last-updated date of September 24, 2026, while the linked privacy notice lists June 29, 2026; Google may revise both.
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How to choose among the three controls
Choose based on the data flow, not a privacy label
- Mostly ordinary prompts: Pick the service whose model-improvement switch you can find and verify, then check it before use.
- One conversation needs a stronger boundary: Use ChatGPT Temporary Chat or Claude Incognito where available, and read the current Gemini temporary-chat terms rather than assuming identical behavior.
- You often give feedback: Avoid feedback on sensitive ChatGPT threads because OpenAI links feedback to possible use of the entire conversation.
- You need safety-sensitive assistance: Remember that Claude’s flagged-conversation exception and Gemini’s protective processing can still involve analysis after a training opt-out.
- You want help from email, drive or other services: Treat connected-app permissions as a separate disclosure decision, especially in Gemini, where connected data can be used for model improvement when Keep Activity is on.
Do not infer a universal winner
The policies use different names, scopes and exceptions, and they do not provide one comparable retention measure or percentage of chats reviewed. A service that is preferable for avoiding model training may be less suitable for someone who needs a particular history, memory or integration feature. State your own boundary first—no model improvement, no account history, no human review, or no third-party data—and then check whether the product actually promises that boundary.
A pre-chat privacy checklist
- Identify the account type and region you are using; consumer, business and education accounts can have different terms.
- Open the live privacy or data-control page and record the exact label and current state.
- Decide whether the chat is ordinary, temporary or incognito, and select that mode before typing.
- Disable or avoid connected apps, file imports, memories and other features that bring additional data into the conversation unless you have checked their separate terms.
- Do not submit feedback on a sensitive conversation when the provider associates feedback with model improvement.
- Remove secrets that the model does not need: passwords, access tokens, private keys, full customer exports and unnecessary personal identifiers.
- After a policy or interface update, recheck the setting; labels, defaults and regional behavior can change.
Common mistakes and how to correct them
“The opt-out means the chat is deleted.”
It does not. A training opt-out addresses model improvement. It does not establish a deletion date, remove a chat from history or cancel safety processing. Use the product’s separate history and deletion controls when those are your goal.
“Temporary means no processing.”
Temporary and incognito modes change specific uses, not every use. ChatGPT describes no history, no memories and no model training for Temporary Chat; Claude excludes Incognito chats from improvement; Google still describes processing and protective purposes for Gemini temporary chats.
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For ChatGPT, OpenAI says feedback may make the full associated conversation available for model improvement despite an opt-out. Keep sensitive threads free of feedback submissions.
“An integration is just another prompt.”
Connected apps can supply summaries, excerpts, generated media and inferences in addition to your typed request. Review each integration and disconnect it when the source contains confidential information you would not want considered for generative-AI training.
“One provider’s policy describes all AI chat.”
These rules are provider-specific. Do not transfer ChatGPT’s Temporary Chat behavior to Claude, or Gemini’s Connected Apps warning to another service, without checking that service’s own current documentation.
What this comparison cannot establish
The official guidance compared here does not verify every consumer AI alternative, local-model installation or self-hosted system. It also does not provide a common statistic for the percentage of chats used for training or reviewed by people. No ranking can responsibly be calculated from these documents alone. If a particular provider, country or account plan matters, read its current privacy notice and confirm the in-product control immediately before sharing data.
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