Google's AI: Training on Your Lens, Search, Translate Data

Google is introducing a new 'Search Services History' setting, providing users with the ability to manage and disable the saving of certain search-related interactions.

The tech giant is implementing changes to its data retention policies concerning user interactions with Search. In a recent email communication to users, Google specified that it will now store images, files, audio, and video utilized in searches under this new 'Search Services History' configuration.

According to an update published on the company's official website, this new policy encompasses a range of data types, including imagery used with Google Lens, recordings generated by its real-time Search Live tool, voice search queries, and phrases spoken into Google Translate. Users who prefer not to have these interactions saved can deactivate the 'Search Services History' setting and disable the associated 'Save Media' option.

Google states that the collected 'Search Services History' will be leveraged to "provide, develop, and improve its services," notably enhancing its artificial intelligence models. Additionally, if the new 'Personalized Recommendations' setting is activated, this data will contribute to tailored suggestions and advertisements. Crucially, these two new settings will function independently from Google’s existing 'Web & App Activity' option, which previously consolidated search-related interactions and offered toggles for saving audio and visual search data.

For users who have already configured their 'Web & App Activity' to prevent Google from saving their search history, the 'Search Services History' setting will automatically be set to off upon this transition. Furthermore, existing personalization preferences will be seamlessly carried over as these new settings are progressively rolled out over the course of the "next few months."