Grant individuals the right to opt out of being included in AI training data

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Arguments for

Consent and privacy control

Supporters argue that people should be able to choose, object, or withdraw consent when their personal data is used to train AI. They frame non-consensual collection and training as a privacy and human-rights problem, and say these rights should extend to training datasets and models, with particular concern for children and the ability to seek deletion or similar relief.

Companies must immediately cease the practice of unlawful non-consensual web scraping of personal data for AI training purposes, and states must hold companies to account for their involvement in any human rights abuses linked to their design and business choices.

Amnesty International · May 28, 2026 · full quote
We need regulation guided by human rights, a universal recognition around leaving no space for data collection and AI development without consent.

Ramanjit Singh Chima · Jul 7, 2026 · full quote
OpenAI must offer its users a choice about whether to participate or not in this practice.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada · May 6, 2026 · full quote
right to object [...] Data subjects must be able to exercise their rights both: [...] on training datasets and, [...] on AI models

CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés) · 2026 · full quote
Children and young people should have the right to opt out or withdraw consent for their data to be processed, and there must be adequate assurance that children’s data is kept for the shortest possible period. Due regard should also be given for the evolving capacity of a child,…

Alex Murphy · May 19, 2026 · full quote
Individuals should have the right to opt-out, update, or request deletion of their data from generative AI tools. These rights should encompass AI training data and disclosure to other users of the tool.

American Medical Association · 2026 · full quote

Creator control and payment

Supporters say creators, artists, writers, journalists, and other rightsholders should remain in control of whether their work is used to develop AI systems. They argue that training on creative works without permission undermines ownership and should, in some cases, involve compensation as well as consent.

No company should use Australian creative works to train AI without the artist’s control.

Government of Australia · Jul 15, 2026 · full quote
Creators and artists must remain in control of how their work is used to develop AI systems.

Universal Music Group · Jul 7, 2026 · full quote
It is vital that our government does not open the door to tech companies to train AI models on artists’ works without permission and pay.

Christian Zimmermann · Mar 24, 2026 · full quote
Creator content should not be used to train commercial AI models without their consent and fair compensation.

Darren O'Rourke · Feb 26, 2026 · full quote
This is simple: if your work is used to train AI, there should be a way for you, the copyright holder, to determine that it's been used by a training model, and you should get compensated if it was. We need to give America's musicians, artists, and creators a tool to find out whe…

Peter Welch · 2026 · full quote
Just permission in general on what is entered and not entered into the models is definitely a part of ethical AI.

Flewnt · Jul 18, 2026 · full quote

Transparency for enforcement

Supporters argue that a right to opt out is only meaningful if people can learn what inputs were used and pursue recourse when their work was used without authorization or consent. They present transparency and access to training records as a critical bridge to accountability.

Unfortunately, it is exceedingly difficult for copyright owners and artists to know if and how AI systems have used their work for training purposes. The TRAIN Act would provide a path to information sharing without the need to resort to infringement lawsuits.

Tracey Armstrong · Jan 22, 2026 · full quote
By creating a pathway for artists and rightsholders to learn what inputs are used by AI programs, the TRAIN Act will increase transparency and allow effective recourse for creative works that have been used without consent.

Dr. Moiya McTier · Jan 22, 2026 · full quote
There is no path for creators to know if their work has been used — without their permission and without compensation — to train AI models. The TRAIN Act would grant artists access to such AI records.

Madeleine Dean · Jan 22, 2026 · full quote
This commonsense legislation ensures that artists and rights holders have meaningful access to the courts when their work is copied for AI training without authorization or consent.

Mitch Glazier · Jan 22, 2026 · full quote
The TRAIN Act would empower creators with an important tool to ensure transparency and prevent the misuse of their copyrighted works.

Todd Dupler · Jan 22, 2026 · full quote
Transparency is not a barrier to progress; it’s a bridge that ensures A.I. advances alongside the artists and workers whose creativity powers our culture.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland · Jan 22, 2026 · full quote

Choice can be implemented

Supporters point to existing toggles, switches, and account settings as evidence that user choice over AI training data can be operationalized. These examples suggest providers can let people decline training use of their data, and in some cases keep using the service while doing so.

Customer may, at any time, and on a go-forward basis, elect to opt-out of Docusign’s AI Training utilizing the applicable “opt-out” toggle or feature within the applicable Docusign Service.

DocuSign · Jul 1, 2026 · full quote
You can control whether HubSpot uses your account's customer data to train its AI models by using the AI model training toggle.

HubSpot · Jul 1, 2026 · full quote
You may opt out of having your interaction data used for AI model training while continuing to use Alfred.

LearnWithAlfred · Apr 29, 2026 · full quote
Some data may be used to train AI models and improve search quality, unless you opt out through Account Settings.

Perplexity Support · Jul 16, 2026 · full quote
Input and output data are used by default to train our artificial intelligence models, unless you opt-out of training.

Mistral AI · Jun 5, 2026 · full quote
If you opt out, we stop using your data to build global models.

Salesforce · May 20, 2026 · full quote

Arguments against

Burden makes opt-out unworkable

Critics argue that broad opt-out systems are unworkable because they shift the burden onto individual rightsholders or users to police AI training across many actors. In their view, that is unfair, especially for freelancers and individual creators, and makes opt-out a poor compromise.

I am pleased that the Government’s response today confirms what it set out in March: that it no longer has a preference for introducing a broad copyright exception for AI training with an opt-out mechanism. It was clear that this approach would have been unworkable and placed an …

Baroness Keeley · May 15, 2026 · full quote
Bectu has been clear that any model which places the burden on individual creators to ‘opt-out’ of the use of copyrighted work for AI training is unworkable, unfair and disproportionately harms freelancers.

Philippa Childs · Mar 18, 2026 · full quote
To be clear: opting all of this music out of generative AI training is all but impossible. Despite this, there are legislators in various countries who are being convinced, thanks to lobbying from the most powerful and valuable AI companies, that providing a right to opt out of …

Ed Newton-Rex · 2024 · full quote
AI needs creators and the data they provide—but that data must be paid for, not stolen. Ironically, big tech relies on the strong IP regime as well; I am sure no one was more surprised than I was when Sam Altman at OpenAI noted, with irony, that DeepSeek had exploited its open-so…

Dame Caroline Dinenage · 2025 · full quote
Providing an opt-out to all individuals [...] This is not only a practical impossibility, but also not desirable

Lokke Moerel · 2026 · full quote

Data limits can slow AI

Opponents warn that expanded opt-out or similar access restrictions can shrink available datasets and create compliance barriers. They argue that this can impede AI development and favor a smaller set of players who can still obtain the needed data.

Restricting access to training data, whether through mandatory compensation, expanded opt-out rights, or onerous compliance requirements, can have the effect of restricting AI development itself.

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation · Jun 24, 2026 · full quote
If you create, at the kind of scale we’re talking about, an obligation to license or a right to opt out of training, then you create huge obstacles to the capacity to access the data you need to train AI systems well. You create a system where there are limits in the datasets and…

Carys Craig · Feb 26, 2026 · full quote

Rights may not reach workers

One objection is that a new right to control training may be signed away in standard contracts, so the practical control would rest with employers or other powerful counterparties rather than creative workers themselves.

If we create a new right to control training, that will not give creative workers control over AI training... It will give our bosses control over AI training, because they will amend our standard contracts to demand that we sign away our training rights to them.

Cory Doctorow · Jun 23, 2026 · full quote

Middle ground

Opt-out as a floor

Some supportive quotes treat opt-out as a minimum safeguard rather than the ideal design. They prefer privacy-protective defaults or explicit opt-in, arguing that entry into the training pipeline should be a real choice and not the default setting.

The idea is that you have to build your systems to collect only what you need and nothing more. And, if one of the options is more privacy protective than the other one, then by default, the more privacy protective option needs to be pre-selected.

Woodrow Hartzog · Jul 16, 2026 · full quote
When we integrate AI capabilities into our platform, we use API endpoints and vendors that do not feed your data back into model training. Opt-in vs. opt-out matters more than you think. Even with opt-in as our policy, we’re not rushing to flip the switch.

Netlify · Apr 13, 2026 · full quote
We do not believe that users should be required to allow their submissions to be used for AI training simply in order to participate in contests.

AtCoder · Jun 29, 2026 · full quote
We will never use your personal content (emails, messages, calendar entries) to train AI models without your explicit opt-in consent.

Cluesmith LLC · May 30, 2026 · full quote
Developers should have the right to decide when and how their work enters the AI training pipeline. Some will want to participate, and that’s great. Others won’t, and that’s equally valid. The point is that it’s a decision, not a default.

Sean Roberts · Apr 13, 2026 · full quote
If you previously opted out of the setting allowing GitHub to collect this data for product improvements, your preference has been retained—your choice is preserved, and your data will not be used for training unless you opt in.

GitHub · Mar 25, 2026 · full quote

Standardized workable exclusions

Another view supports exclusion rights only if they are transparent, standardized, and technically viable. These quotes emphasize machine-readable formats, effective controls, and legal certainty so both rightsholders and AI providers can tell how opt-out signals should work.

Rights holders should have the possibility to use tools enabling them to effectively exclude the use of their works in AI training in a limited number of standardised machine-readable formats, potentially managed and listed by the EUIPO, thereby enabling the effective exclusion o…

European Parliament · Mar 10, 2026 · full quote
By allowing rightsholders to opt out, the mechanisms must remain technically viable.

Computer & Communications Industry Association Europe · Jun 2026 · full quote
The publisher CR requires Google to provide publishers with effective controls over the use of their search content in generative AI.

Competition and Markets Authority · Jun 3, 2026 · full quote
Rightsholders told us that a lack of transparency from AI developers weakens their protections under copyright law by making it harder to identify infringement of their material. In addition, they cannot monitor whether any rights-reservation signals they may have used to prevent…

House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee · May 13, 2026 · full quote
The consultation published yesterday sets out clearly that the Government’s objectives on this issue are threefold: to enhance rights holders’ control of their material and their ability to be paid for its use, to support wide access to high-quality material to drive the developm…

Chris Bryant · 2024 · full quote

Insights

A recurring split is over mechanism: several critics call opt-out unworkable or insufficient, rather than arguing that people should have no protection at all.
The supportive case is framed through two different kinds of interests: privacy and consent over personal data, and control, permission, or pay for creative works.
Multiple quotes treat transparency as a prerequisite to meaningful control, arguing that people cannot enforce exclusion if they cannot see what data was used or whether exclusion signals were honored.
Some supportive quotes present opt-out as only a minimum safeguard and prefer opt-in or other more privacy-protective defaults.
A notable share of the supportive record comes from companies, regulators, schools, and governments describing concrete settings or policies, not only abstract rights claims.

The record contains repeated calls for greater control over whether personal data and creative works feed AI training, usually alongside demands for transparency, withdrawal, and sometimes compensation. The main fault lines concern implementation: whether opt-out can be made practical and enforceable, whether it places too much burden on individuals, and whether broad rights would constrain access to data needed for AI development. Even among supporters, there is substantial debate over defaults, technical standards, and whether opt-out is enough on its own.

Cast your vote:

Results (103 votes):

Total (103 votes)

For 91 (88%) Abstain 0 (0%) Against 12 (12%)

For (90)

Twitch

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votes For and says:

We've added a setting that lets you opt out of having your channel content used to train generative AI content models across Amazon.
AI Verified source (Aug 12, 2026)

added 12h ago

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Flewnt
Perth-based rapper and advocate for protecting First Nations cultural property in AI.

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votes For and says:

Just permission in general on what is entered and not entered into the models is definitely a part of ethical AI.
AI Verified source (Jul 18, 2026)

added 27d ago

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Perplexity Support
Help center team

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votes For and says:

Some data may be used to train AI models and improve search quality, unless you opt out through Account Settings.
AI Verified source (Jul 16, 2026) 1 of 2

added 18d ago

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Woodrow Hartzog
Law professor, Boston University

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votes For and says:

The idea is that you have to build your systems to collect only what you need and nothing more. And, if one of the options is more privacy protective than the other one, then by default, the more privacy protective option needs to be pre-selected.
AI Verified source (Jul 16, 2026)

added 25d ago

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Ben Winters
Consumer Federation of America director

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votes For and says:

It is the perfect recipe for something that needs federal government intervention. That's what legislatures and governments are there for: to protect people where they are unable to protect themselves and constrain companies from doing things that ar...
more AI Verified source (Jul 16, 2026)

added 25d ago

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Government of Australia
Government of Australia speaking through its delegate at the UN Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance in July 2026.

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votes For and says:

No company should use Australian creative works to train AI without the artist’s control.
AI Verified source (Jul 15, 2026)

added 25d ago

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Australian Government
National government of Australia; publisher of official digital and AI policy guidance.

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votes For and says:

Our approach will ensure Australian writers, artists and journalists retain ownership over their work, meaning no company should use Australian creative works to train AI without the artist’s control.
AI Verified source (Jul 15, 2026)

added 27d ago

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Anna Olsarenk
UN representative of the Global Forum for Media Development, a network supporting media organisations worldwide.

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votes For and says:

AI systems are trained on journalistic content, which is scraped without consent, without compensation, without credit.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

added 26d ago

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Ramanjit Singh Chima
Policy director and public-interest technologist at the Association for Progressive Communications; speaker at the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in July 2026.

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votes For and says:

We need regulation guided by human rights, a universal recognition around leaving no space for data collection and AI development without consent.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

added 27d ago

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Universal Music Group
Global music company, speaking through its public-affairs representative on creators’ rights and AI.

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votes For and says:

Creators and artists must remain in control of how their work is used to develop AI systems.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

added 1mo ago

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Google
Search and advertising company

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votes For and says:

Like your Search Services History, your saved media is also used to develop and improve Google services and technologies, including AI models and safety measures.
AI Verified source (Jul 6, 2026)

added 14d ago

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Human Data Rights Coalition
Advocacy coalition focused on data ownership, consent, transparency, and rights in AI training.

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votes For and says:

There is no single universal opt-out yet — which is exactly the enforceable right the Human Data Rights Coalition campaigns for.
AI Verified source (Jul 2026)

added 14d ago

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DocuSign
Electronic-signature and agreement-management software company.

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votes For and says:

Customer may, at any time, and on a go-forward basis, elect to opt-out of Docusign’s AI Training utilizing the applicable “opt-out” toggle or feature within the applicable Docusign Service.
AI Verified source (Jul 1, 2026)

added 18d ago

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HubSpot
Customer relationship management and marketing software company.

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votes For and says:

You can control whether HubSpot uses your account's customer data to train its AI models by using the AI model training toggle.
AI Verified source (Jul 1, 2026)

added 25d ago

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AtCoder
Japanese online competitive-programming platform and contest organizer.

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votes For and says:

We do not believe that users should be required to allow their submissions to be used for AI training simply in order to participate in contests.
AI Verified source (Jun 29, 2026)

added 25d ago

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Mistral AI

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votes For and says:

Input and output data are used by default to train our artificial intelligence models, unless you opt-out of training.
AI Verified source (Jun 5, 2026)

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Computer & Communications Industry Association Europe
European technology-industry trade association.

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votes For and says:

By allowing rightsholders to opt out, the mechanisms must remain technically viable.
AI Verified source (Jun 2026)

added 14d ago

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Cluesmith LLC
Company that provides the Shannon personal AI assistant.

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votes For and says:

We will never use your personal content (emails, messages, calendar entries) to train AI models without your explicit opt-in consent.
AI Verified source (May 30, 2026)

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Amnesty International
Human rights NGO

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votes For and says:

Companies must immediately cease the practice of unlawful non-consensual web scraping of personal data for AI training purposes, and states must hold companies to account for their involvement in any human rights abuses linked to their design and bus...
more AI Verified source (May 28, 2026)

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Likhita Banerji
Head of the Algorithmic Accountability Lab at Amnesty International.

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votes For and says:

Companies across the world are supplying generative AI products under the veneer of efficiency and sophistication, but in reality, these systems perpetuate mass invasions of privacy through unlawful web scraping: an automated process for extracting d...
more AI Verified source (May 28, 2026)

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Middendorp Electric Co Pty Ltd
Australian electrical-supply company operating as Middy’s.

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votes For and says:

To opt out of AI training use, please ask the Middy’s team member not to record the call.
AI Verified source (May 25, 2026)

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Salesforce
American cloud software company

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votes For and says:

If you opt out, we stop using your data to build global models.
AI Verified source (May 20, 2026)

added 4d ago

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Alex Murphy
Online Safety Legal Officer at the Children's Rights Alliance.

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votes For and says:

Children and young people should have the right to opt out or withdraw consent for their data to be processed, and there must be adequate assurance that children’s data is kept for the shortest possible period. Due regard should also be given for the...
more AI Verified source (May 19, 2026)

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House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee
Select committee of the UK House of Lords examining communications, digital policy, and technology.

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votes For and says:

Rightsholders told us that a lack of transparency from AI developers weakens their protections under copyright law by making it harder to identify infringement of their material. In addition, they cannot monitor whether any rights-reservation signals...
more AI Verified source (May 13, 2026)

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Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Canada’s independent federal privacy regulator.

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votes For and says:

OpenAI must offer its users a choice about whether to participate or not in this practice.
AI Verified source (May 6, 2026)

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Philippe Dufresne
Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

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votes For and says:

These measures will significantly limit the personal information that is used to train new Chat GPT models and better protect the fundamental right to privacy of Canadians.
AI Verified source (May 6, 2026)

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Washington State University

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votes For and says:

Users who decide they do not want their Copilot interaction data used for AI training in GitHub must manually opt out by updating their GitHub account settings.
AI Verified source (Apr 29, 2026)

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Abstain (0)

Against (12)

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
US innovation policy think tank

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votes Against and says:

Restricting access to training data, whether through mandatory compensation, expanded opt-out rights, or onerous compliance requirements, can have the effect of restricting AI development itself.
AI Verified source (Jun 24, 2026)

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Cory Doctorow
Author and digital rights activist

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votes Against and says:

If we create a new right to control training, that will not give creative workers control over AI training... It will give our bosses control over AI training, because they will amend our standard contracts to demand that we sign away our training ri...
more AI Verified source (Jun 23, 2026)

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Baroness Keeley
Chair of the UK House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee.

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votes Against and says:

I am pleased that the Government’s response today confirms what it set out in March: that it no longer has a preference for introducing a broad copyright exception for AI training with an opt-out mechanism. It was clear that this approach would have ...
more AI Verified source (May 15, 2026)

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