OpenAI, Slack, Adobe, Google and others: How to stop these AI services from collecting your data

Artificial Intelligence

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, data privacy concerns have become more pressing. Nearly everyone has posted something online over the past 20 years, and it is likely that AI companies have used this information to train their generative AI models. This guide explains how to delete your data from various AI services, such as OpenAI, Slack, Adobe, and Google.

Large language models, like ChatGPT, and image creators rely on vast amounts of data to function. Technology companies often scrape the web for data, which is then used to create and train AI models. This practice raises concerns about privacy and the use of personal content without explicit consent.

Companies like Reddit and Twitter have also begun selling or licensing user data to AI firms. While regulatory demands and investigations into these practices are increasing, progress in giving users more control over their online data remains slow.

Before exploring how to opt out of data collection for AI training, it is important to understand the challenges involved. Many AI companies have already collected extensive data, so much of your online content may already be in their systems.

Opting out can be difficult, as companies often make the process cumbersome. Additionally, many users are unaware of the permissions they have granted or how their data is being used. This complexity is compounded by various laws, such as copyright protection and European privacy regulations. Companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter have clauses in their privacy policies that allow them to use your data for AI training.

Adobe Creative Cloud users should be aware that their stored files can be used to train Adobe’s machine learning algorithms. Adobe aggregates user content to enhance its products and services.

Opt-out process: For personal accounts, visit the Adobe privacy page, scroll to the Content Analytics section, and deactivate the option. For business or educational accounts, contact your administrator to manage settings.

Google’s AI chatbot, Gemini, may review user conversations to improve its AI model. Users can opt out of this data collection.

Opt-out process: Open Gemini in your browser, click on Activity, and select the Disable dropdown menu. You can disable Gemini Apps Activity or opt out and delete conversation data. Note that while future chats may not be reviewed, selected data can remain for up to three years.

OpenAI allows users to manage how their data is used for AI training. Users can choose to exclude their content from future model training.

Web users without an account: Go to Settings and uncheck the option "Improve the model for everyone."

Logged-in web users: Select ChatGPT, go to Settings, Data Controls, and disable Chat History and Training.

Mobile app users: Go to Settings, select Data Controls, and disable Chat History and Training on each device.

DALL-E 3: Submit a form on OpenAI’s website to remove images from future training datasets.

Slack messages can be used to enhance the platform’s machine learning capabilities.

Opt-out process: Administrators must send an email to feedback@slack.com with the subject “Slack Global model opt-out request” and include the organisation’s URL. Slack will confirm the exclusion once processed.

WordPress provides an option to prevent data sharing with third parties.

Opt-out process: Visit your website’s control panel, click on Settings, General, and then on Privacy. Check the box to prevent third-party sharing.

Website owners can update their robots.txt file to prevent AI crawlers from indexing their pages. This method is used by many news websites and can be applied to any site, regardless of size.