Privacy guide

How to use Gemini privately

Not by default: if you're 18 or over, Keep Activity is on, so Google saves your Gemini chats for 18 months, can use them to train its AI models, and has human reviewers read some of them. You can make Gemini a lot more private by turning off Keep Activity, using Temporary chat for sensitive questions, and deleting the activity you've already saved.

Checked against the provider’s own help pages. We make Bearly, which this guide also covers.

Make Gemini more private, step by step

These steps cover the Gemini app and gemini.google.com with a personal Google account, using the labels from Google's own help pages. Work and school accounts follow different rules, covered below.

1. Use Temporary chat for anything sensitive

A temporary chat doesn't appear in your recent chats or your Gemini Apps Activity, and Google says it isn't used to train its AI models or to improve them with help from human reviewers.

On the web:

  1. Go to gemini.google.com.
  2. Next to New chat, click Temporary chat.
  3. Type your message and send it.

In the Gemini app, tap Menu at the top, then Temporary chat next to New chat.

Temporary chat needs a personal Google account; it isn't available on work or school accounts, in Gemini in Chrome, or in Google Messages. In a temporary chat you can't use Gems, connected apps that need Keep Activity, personalized responses, or feedback. Once you leave it, you can't get back to it. (Google: Use Gemini Apps)

2. Turn off Keep Activity

This is the setting that decides whether Google saves your chats, uses them to train its AI models, and lets human reviewers see them to improve its services. It's on by default if you're 18 or over.

On the web:

  1. Go to gemini.google.com.
  2. Click Settings & help, then Activity.
  3. Near the top, click On, then Turn off, or Turn off and delete activity to clear your history at the same time.

In the Gemini app, tap Menu, then Settings & help, then Activity.

Once it's off, your future chats don't appear in your activity and aren't used to train Google's AI models, unless you send feedback. The trade-off: most connected apps stop working. On gemini.google.com and on iPhone, none are available; on Android, only Device assistance, Phone, Messages, and WhatsApp remain. Gemini also can't use your past chats to personalize answers. (Google: Manage & delete your activity in Gemini Apps)

3. Delete what's already saved, and shorten auto-delete

Open Settings & help, then Activity. Above your activity, click Delete, then choose Last hour, Last day, All time, or Custom range. You can also delete a single chat with the delete button next to it.

If you keep Keep Activity on, shorten how long Google keeps it. By default, activity older than 18 months is deleted. Near the top of the same page, click Deleting activity older than (or Choose an auto-delete option) and pick 3 months.

Deleting a chat you shared doesn't delete its public link. Remove shared links separately in Your public links (gemini.google.com/sharing). (Google: Manage & delete your activity in Gemini Apps)

4. Check memory and connected apps

To stop Gemini from using your past chats to personalize answers, click Settings & help, then Personal Intelligence, and turn Memory off. To make Gemini forget something, delete every chat that mentions it. If it came from a connected app like Gmail, disconnect that app too; doing only one leaves the information reachable. (Google: Personalization with memory of your past Gemini chats)

To see which apps Gemini can reach, click Customize in the sidebar (under More if you don't see it), then Connectors. To disconnect one, select More options, then Disconnect. (Google: Use & manage Connected Apps in Gemini)

What these settings don't change

These settings control what Gemini saves and learns from. They don't change who handles your messages.

  • Google still processes everything you send in order to answer it. Every setting above applies after your message reaches Google.
  • Temporary chats, and chats with Keep Activity off, are kept with your account for 72 hours. Google uses them to respond to you and to protect its users and the public, which can include human review. (Google)
  • Chats human reviewers have already seen aren't deleted when you delete your activity. They're disconnected from your account and kept for up to 3 years. Google's privacy notice says: "Please don't enter confidential information that you wouldn't want a reviewer to see or Google to use to improve our services." (Google)
  • Feedback is its own path. If you send Google feedback, it collects the feedback, the last 24 hours of your chats, and anything in them, even with Keep Activity off. Trained teams review it, and Google keeps it for up to 3 years. (Google)
  • Your other Google settings keep their own data. Turning off Keep Activity doesn't change Web & App Activity, Search history, or Timeline, and connected Google apps keep data under their own settings. (Google)
  • Work and school accounts follow their organization's rules. Google says chats and uploads in Gemini with a Workspace account aren't reviewed by humans or used to train generative AI models outside your organization without permission, and your administrator controls how long they're kept. (Google Workspace)

Use Gemini through Bearly with zero data retention

If you want privacy on every chat without remembering to switch modes, there's another option: use Gemini models in a different app that runs them with zero data retention. Bearly is one of those apps. We make it, so weigh this section with that in mind.

Bearly gives you Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, and more in one app. With ZDR mode on, every chat model you can pick runs with zero data retention. That means the provider running the model doesn't keep your prompt or the answer once it has finished processing them. Our AI proxy doesn't store your prompts or the answers either. Bearly doesn't train AI models on your chats, has no ads, and doesn't sell your data.

To turn it on:

  1. In Bearly, open your account menu at the bottom of the sidebar and choose App Settings.
  2. Select Privacy & Security.
  3. Turn on Zero Data Retention only.
  4. Start a chat and choose a Gemini model from the model picker.

With the setting on, the picker shows only zero-retention models, and automatic fallbacks stay on them too. Each model carries a ZDR badge. The setting belongs to your account, so it follows you to your other devices. (Bearly docs: zero data retention)

What it covers: the models that write chat replies. Web search, image generation, voice, and memory run separately. Web search sends the provider your query, never your name, account, or IP address. Image search runs on a provider that keeps nothing after it answers. Your chats are still saved in your Bearly history so you can come back to them. In the same pane, select Set up end-to-end encryption, and new chats are encrypted on your devices; we store and sync only the locked copies.

Questions people ask

Does Gemini have a temporary or incognito chat?

Yes, on personal Google accounts. On gemini.google.com, click Temporary chat next to New chat. In the app, open Menu first. It isn't available on work or school accounts.

Is Gemini's Temporary chat really private?

It's more private than a regular chat. It stays out of your activity and recent chats and isn't used to train Google's AI models. Google still keeps it with your account for 72 hours to respond to you and to protect its users, which can include human review.

Does Gemini train on my chats?

With Keep Activity on, which is the default if you're 18 or over, Google can use your chats to train its AI models, and human reviewers read a subset of them. Turn off Keep Activity under Settings & help > Activity to stop that for future chats. Feedback you send can still be used.

Do humans read my Gemini chats?

Some, yes. Google says a subset of chats is reviewed by people, including trained reviewers from its service providers, after the chats are disconnected from your account. Reviewed chats are kept for up to 3 years, even if you delete your activity.

Does Google use my Gemini chats for ads?

Google says your Gemini Apps chats aren't being used to show you ads, and that it will tell you clearly if that changes.

Is Gemini private on a work or school account?

Those accounts follow your organization's Workspace agreement. Google says your chats aren't reviewed by humans or used to train generative AI models outside your organization without permission. Your administrator decides how long chats are kept, and Temporary chat isn't available.

Related

Sources

All checked October 27, 2026.

Try ZDR mode on your next question.

Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, and more in one app. Turn on Zero Data Retention only in Settings, then pick a model.

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