Last read: 24 Oct 2026 · From Google’s own pages
Gemini: what happens to your chats
1. Training
Setting: “Keep Activity” in Gemini Apps Activity, or use Temporary chats.
2. Retention and deletion
Keep Activity on: auto-deleted after 18 months by default (you can choose 3 or 36 months, or never).
Keep Activity off, or a Temporary chat: kept for 72 hours.
3. Human review
A subset of chats is read by human reviewers, including staff at service providers. Reviewed chats are kept up to 3 years, detached from your account, and survive deleting your activity.
What still applies with training off
- 72-hour retention.
- Google still uses chats to protect its service and users, including with human reviewers.
- Submitting feedback shares the last 24 hours of chats.
Worth knowing, in plain words
Terms in a privacy policy can be hard to read. These are the points that matter most for Gemini, with a generic example of each. The examples are illustrations, not real cases.
A person may read a sample
Some products let trained staff or contractors read a sample of conversations for safety or quality. Whether you can opt out depends on the product.
Example, illustrative onlyA chat you thought only software saw is selected for review. A reviewer reads it to check how the system responded.
What this page says: A subset of chats is read by human reviewers. Reviewed chats are kept up to 3 years and survive deleting your activity.
Temporary does not mean zero
Temporary or private chat modes keep your chat out of your visible history. The company may still hold a copy for a short period.
Example, illustrative onlyYou use a temporary chat for a sensitive question and close the window. A copy can still exist on the company’s systems for the period its page states.
What this page says: With Keep Activity off, or in a Temporary chat, chats are kept for 72 hours.
Feedback is a separate channel
Rating or reporting an answer can send that conversation, or a slice of it, to the company, even when your other settings are off.
Example, illustrative onlyYou switch training off, then tap thumbs-down on a bad answer to help the company fix it. That one tap may be treated as permission for that conversation.
What this page says: Submitting feedback shares the last 24 hours of chats.
Sources
- Google: Gemini Apps Privacy Hub · Updated 23 Oct 2026
“Not stated” means the pages we read are silent on the point. It is not a statement that the practice does not exist. Wording is checked against the page on the date above and may have changed since.
Spot an error? Email corrections@aichatprivacy.com with a link to the source.