Is NotebookLM safe to use?
Google's research assistant. Upload your own documents — PDFs, notes, slides — and ask questions, get summaries, or generate an audio overview, all grounded in your own sources.
Last reviewed: 21 July 2026
Does NotebookLM train on what you type?
No.
Can you turn NotebookLM's training off?
Nothing to opt out of for training. To stay private, avoid the thumbs-up / thumbs-down feedback buttons on sensitive material, and never share a notebook by public link, as that exposes the source documents inside it.
Is what you put into NotebookLM private?
Google states that NotebookLM does not use your uploaded sources or your questions to train its AI models. Your sources stay private unless you choose to share a notebook. The one exception: if you give thumbs-up or thumbs-down feedback on a response, that interaction may be reviewed to improve the product. Workspace and Education accounts get stronger protections, with no human review even on feedback.
So, is NotebookLM safe to use?
Generally, yes. We currently rate NotebookLM "Generally Safe" (privacy risk: Low), based on how it handles the data covered above.
The Pragmatist's take
“For working with your own documents, this is the safe choice. Google does not train on what you upload, and it only answers from the sources you give it. Two practical rules: skip the feedback buttons if a document is sensitive, and never share a notebook by public link — that exposes everything inside.”
— The Pragmatist
The official documents behind this review
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