This guide is for parents who want to improve their children’s privacy when using free AI services. With several major providers, using chats for training or quality improvement is enabled by default, or at least possible; that’s why opting out makes sense – especially if children might enter personal, school-related or health information.
Why this matters
- Children often enter personal data by accident: names, school, where they live, photos, health details or family problems. Content like that shouldn’t additionally be used for model training or product improvement.
- A training opt-out doesn’t prevent all data storage, but it does significantly reduce the use of new chats for AI training across several common services.
- Alongside the opt-out, parents should teach children never to upload passwords, phone numbers, addresses, ID documents, school reports or intimate photos to AI tools.
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
OpenAI states that personal ChatGPT accounts may be set by default to share data for model improvement, but that the setting can be switched off in the data controls.
On a computer
- Open ChatGPT and sign in to your account.
- Click your profile picture or the account menu.
- Open Settings.
- Select Data Controls.
- Switch off Improve the model for everyone.
- From then on, new conversations will no longer be used to train the models.
On a smartphone
- Open the ChatGPT app.
- Open the side menu or your profile.
- Select Data Controls.
- Turn off Improve the model for everyone.
Extra protection
- Older chats that already exist aren’t automatically removed by switching this off; only new conversations fall outside this training afterwards.
- If you want to go further still, you can also use the OpenAI privacy portal for a general opt-out.
Gemini (Google)
Google lets you switch off Gemini Apps Activity, which limits the storage and use of Gemini chats for future model improvement.
On a computer
- Open gemini.google.com and sign in.
- Click Activity in the left-hand menu.
- Click Turn off.
- If offered, choose Turn off and delete activity so existing activity is deleted too.
- Check that Gemini Apps Activity is now shown as switched off.
On a smartphone
- Open the Gemini app and sign in.
- Tap your profile picture.
- Select Gemini App Activity or Gemini Apps Activity.
- Choose Turn off, or better still Turn off and delete activity.
Extra protection
- If you use Gemini Live, you should also turn off the option to improve Google services with audio or Gemini Live recordings.
- Earlier content may need to be deleted separately if you didn’t choose Turn off and delete activity straight away.
Le Chat (Mistral)
Mistral explicitly documents an opt-out for the use of inputs and outputs for training.
In the app
- Open Le Chat.
- Open Settings.
- Under Account, select Data & Account Controls.
- Untick the box or switch off Enable data sharing.
- This ends your participation in the training programme.
On the web or in the account area
- Go to the management or account area of Le Chat.
- Select Le Chat under Manage, if available.
- In the Privacy section, switch off Allow your interactions to be used to train our models.
Important note
- The interface may look slightly different depending on the version, but according to Mistral the relevant places are labelled Privacy, Data sharing or train our models.
- Media reports also point out that, if needed, people can object to the data processing via the Help Center or by email.
Perplexity
Perplexity states that AI Data Retention is enabled by default for Free, Pro and Max users, but that users can switch off this use of data for AI training themselves.
On a computer or in the mobile web
- Sign in to Perplexity.
- Go to Account.
- Open the Preferences page.
- Find the AI data retention setting.
- Switch it off to opt out of data collection for AI training.
Extra protection
- According to Perplexity’s description, switching this off means the data is no longer collected for AI training.
- Parents should also check history, uploaded files and saved settings regularly.
Other common free models
Not every popular AI service offers a clear, easily accessible training opt-out inside the app on a normal consumer account. So the ground rules should always be spelled out: don’t enter sensitive data, delete existing chats regularly, limit app permissions, and only use the tool with supervision.
A short checklist for parents
- Check for a training opt-out immediately after signing up.
- Delete old activity and chat histories.
- Only allow microphone, camera and file access when it’s actually needed.
- Tell children: no real names of other children, no address, no phone number, no school, no passwords, no photos of ID documents or school reports.
- For schoolwork, use neutral, made-up example data wherever possible.