Paying for Gemini doesn't keep your chats out of Google's training, so a subscription isn't a locked filing cabinet
By Brett Gavaghan, Founder of Adaptd ·
Personal Gemini accounts, paid or free, can feed Google's AI training while a setting called Keep Activity is on. Work accounts on Google Workspace follow different rules.
The short version
- Personal Gemini chats can be used to train Google's AI while the Keep Activity setting is on.
- Google's privacy hub sets no separate rule for paid personal plans, while Workspace content stays out of training without permission.
- Keep client work on a Workspace account, or turn Keep Activity off on personal accounts.
Most of us assume that once money changes hands, our stuff gets treated a bit more carefully. Gemini's privacy settings didn't get that memo.
Does Gemini train on paid personal accounts?
Gemini can use chats from personal Google accounts to train its AI models while the Keep Activity setting is on. Google's Gemini Apps Privacy Hub sets out no separate training rule for people paying for a Google AI plan. The point got a good airing on Hacker News in early November, where some said there's no way out.
That part overstates it. There is a switch, but it comes at a cost: with Keep Activity off, your future chats stay out of your history, so you lose the list of past conversations.
What happens to your chats?
With Keep Activity on, Gemini activity auto-deletes after 18 months by default, and human reviewers read a subset of chats. Reviewed chats are disconnected from your account and kept for up to three years, even if you delete your activity.
With Keep Activity off, Google says future chats won't train its models unless you send feedback, and they're held for 72 hours. Temporary chats aren't used for training either. Google's Workspace privacy hub says Gemini content on work accounts isn't human reviewed or used for AI training outside your domain without permission.
What should your business do about it?
Your business should find out which Google account your team uses for Gemini before it worries about the setting. A paid Workspace account and a personal Gmail with a subscription look much the same on screen, and they sit under different rules.
My advice: put client work on a Workspace account. If someone has to use a personal account, turn Keep Activity off or use a temporary chat, and keep client names and financials out of it. Small businesses aren't exempt from this one, because a sole trader's personal Gmail is often the company account.
The subscription buys you a better assistant. It doesn't buy that assistant a shredder.
Wondering what this means for your business?
That's exactly what the discovery call is for.