Google’s new AI Overviews feature is designed to give quick, AI-generated answers to your search queries. While it might seem helpful, it also raises some serious data privacy concerns.
How It Works
When you search with Google while signed into your account, AI Overviews use your query to generate a summary. But here’s the catch: unless you change your settings, Google saves your searches, the AI responses, your feedback (thumbs up/down), and other data like location and device info—for up to 18 months.
Your Data Footprint Grows
Because this feature is tied to your Google account, it could access:
- Your Gmail content
- YouTube watch history
- Google Maps check-ins
- And more
This creates a deeply personalized profile—which could be vulnerable if your account is hacked, subpoenaed, or if data leaks.
Can You Turn It Off?
You can’t fully disable AI Overviews yet, but there are ways to limit them:
- Use a Chrome extension like Hide Google AI Overviews
- Add &udm=14 at the end of Google search URLs to get only regular results
- Switch to private search engines like DuckDuckGo or Brave
Final Thoughts
AI Overviews may save time, but they come at the cost of your data privacy. If you’re concerned about how much Google knows about you, it might be time to adjust your settings—or consider a different search engine. Have any questions? Reach out to us today at 703-790-0400.
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