AI tool privacy · Google
Gemini and your company’s data
By David Michaelson, MS Last checked October 23, 2026
The short answer
In a Google Workspace business account, Gemini does not use your content to train models outside your organization without permission; on a personal Google Account, Google uses your chats to improve its AI, with help from human reviewers, while Keep Activity is on.
Safer setup: Use Gemini through your company’s Google Workspace account. On a personal account, turn off Keep Activity, and keep anything confidential out of Gemini.
Plan by plan
Each answer comes from Google’s own policy or help pages, with the link and the date we read it. Setting names are quoted exactly as Google writes them.
We could not confirm 2 answers on Google’s own pages. Those answers say so in plain words and link to the page we checked.
| Question | Personal Google Account | Google Workspace (business accounts) |
|---|---|---|
| Trains on your data by default? | Yes, while Keep Activity is on. Google says it uses your activity to provide, develop, and improve its services, including training generative AI models. With Keep Activity off, future chats are not used to train its AI models unless you send feedback. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: support.google.com | No, not without your permission. Google says your content is not reviewed by humans or used to train generative AI models outside your organization without permission. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: support.google.com |
| How long your data is kept | With Keep Activity on, activity is deleted after 18 months by default. You can choose 3 or 36 months, or not to auto-delete. With it off, chats are kept for 72 hours. Chats read by human reviewers are kept up to 3 years, even after you delete your activity. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: support.google.com | Set by your admin. In the Gemini app, up to 36 months. In Gmail, Docs, and other Workspace apps, 90 days to indefinite. With conversation history off, new chats are kept for up to 72 hours. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: support.google.com |
| Who can see it | The privacy hub does not describe company access to a personal account. It says human reviewers, including trained reviewers from Google’s service providers, read some chats, and asks you not to enter confidential information you would not want a reviewer to see. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: support.google.com | Admins get audit logs that track user activity and interactions with Gemini, and they control whether conversations are saved and for how long. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: support.google.com |
| Where data is stored | Not stated on the privacy hub we read. Page checked: support.google.com, October 23, 2026 | Not stated for Gemini chats on the page we read. Page checked: support.google.com, October 23, 2026 |
| How to delete | Review and delete chats in Gemini Apps Activity at myactivity.google.com/product/gemini. Chats a reviewer has already read are not deleted and are kept up to 3 years. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: support.google.com | Users can delete conversations themselves unless an admin turns that off. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: support.google.com |
Safer setup, step by step
- On a personal account, open Gemini Apps Activity and turn off Keep Activity. Google says future chats then are not used to train its AI models unless you send feedback. Source: support.google.com for this step
- Use a temporary chat for anything you do not want saved to your activity. Google says temporary chats are not used to train its AI models. Source: support.google.com for this step
- For a team, sign in with your Google Workspace work account. An admin sets how long Gemini conversations are kept. Source: support.google.com for this step
What to write in your policy
Staff may use Gemini for work only while signed in to our company Google Workspace account. Customer data never goes into Gemini on a personal Google Account.
Building your own approved tools list? The SafeStart Handbook includes one, with company accounts and safer privacy settings.