Privacy and data defaults 7 min
This is the most important page in the guide. Read it once and set it up, and you never have to worry about it again.
The default changed in 2026. On the consumer plans (Free, Pro, and Max), your new chats are used to help train Anthropic's models unless you turn that off. This is a reversal of how it used to work, so most people who signed up before are affected too.
How to opt out
Open Settings, then Privacy
You are looking for the training toggle.
Find the "Help improve our AI models" setting
That is what the toggle is called as of July 2026. The exact label has shifted before, so if the words differ, match the meaning rather than the wording.
Turn it OFF
That is it. Your chats are no longer used for training, and your data is kept for a much shorter window.
You may be asked about this when you first sign up, with a big "Accept" button and a smaller toggle. Slow down for a second, find the toggle, and set it the way you want before you click through.
What each setting means for how long your data lives
| Mode | Used for training? | How long it is kept |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer, training ON (the default) | Yes | Up to 5 years |
| Consumer, training OFF (you opt out) | No | About 30 days |
| Incognito chat | Never | Not saved to your history |
| Team, Enterprise, or API | No, by default | Short retention (API logs about 7 days) |
The private-mode escape hatch
The ghost icon at the top starts an incognito chat. It is never used for training and is not saved to your history, no matter how your global toggle is set. Use it for one-off sensitive questions you do not want stored.
A policy update that took effect July 7, 2026 means conversations that get flagged by Anthropic's safety systems can still be used for training even if you opted out. Anthropic does not spell out exactly what triggers a flag. So opting out is good hygiene, but it is not a guarantee for truly confidential material. For that, use the business rule below.
Consumer plan with training OFF is fine for personal and low-stakes work. For anything involving client data, staff data, or regulated information, use Team or Enterprise, where no-training is the default and the safety carve-out is not a concern. Never rely on the opt-out alone for confidential business data.
What is safe to paste or upload
Use this simple decision tree before putting anything into a consumer account.
Green, go ahead
Your own draft writing, public info, general questions, non-sensitive notes, a document you wrote and own.
Yellow, think first and redact
Business documents with names or numbers, internal notes. Strip anything you would not want seen, and turn training off first.
Red, do not, unless you are on a business plan with clearance
Passwords, full card or bank numbers, government IDs, client contracts, employee or HR records, health records, tax documents, anyone else's private data.
Go to Settings, Privacy, and set the training toggle the way you want. If you handle client data, note that Team is your real answer and plan to move there.