Google Updates Privacy Policy for Data Collection to Train AI Models

Google has announced a privacy policy update that grants the company greater control over data collection and analysis for training its artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

• The updated policy states that Google uses publicly available information to enhance its AI models and develop new products and features like Google Translate and Cloud AI capabilities.

CALIFORNIA, USA – On the first weekend of July 2023, Alphabet’s Google announced that it will be altering its privacy policy, in a move that will give the Big Tech giant further control over the collection and analysis of people’s data for training its artificial intelligence (AI) systems. 

First introduced on July 1, Google’s latest alteration signifies a significant departure from the company’s previous terms of services. A comparison with earlier versions of the policy can be made by accessing a link provided on the website’s update page. 

The updated Google terms and services revealed that “Google uses information to improve our services and to develop new products, features, and technologies that benefit our users and the public.” 

“For example, we use publicly available information to help train Google’s AI models and build products and features like Google Translate, Bard, and Cloud AI capabilities,” it further states. 

Through this reveal, Alphabet strives for full transparency with its users, highlighting that any content shared online could be used by the company to optimize the training processes for its current AI systems.  

Prior to the announcement, Google’s privacy policy update solely dictated that all public data is used for the enhance its ‘language models,’ but now said data is harnessed and used to optimize all of its AI models and products. This includes translation systems, cloud AI services, and systems that generate text. 

AI technologies from major tech companies like Google’s Bard and OpenAI’s ChatGPT can collect and repurpose publicly available information, including posts, online reviews, and other forms of content. While it is true that all online posts and content are openly available, the fact is that now, it is no longer a matter of accessibility but rather the potential use of said information, and the transparency of this usage by tech companies. 

Google’s revised data policy move comes in the wake of OpenAI’s class action lawsuit in California. The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI unlawfully gathered public users’ data via the internet, including millions of data from social media comments, Wikipedia, and wide range of other personal sources. The lawsuit’s allegations revealed that OpenAI might have been collecting sensitive information to train in generative AI language model without obtaining users’ consent. 

The lawsuit claims that OpenAI violated multiple copyrights and privacy rights of millions of internet users. 

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