Is NotebookLM safe to use?

What Google actually says about training

Simply uploading and working with files in NotebookLM does not feed the model. The one exception: if you click thumbs up or thumbs down on a response to submit feedback, that specific feedback may be reviewed to improve the product. Passive use, uploading, chatting, generating outputs, does not.

Personal account vs Workspace account

This is the distinction that actually matters. On a work or school account with a qualifying Google Workspace or Workspace for Education edition, your uploads, questions and the model's responses are shielded from human review entirely, and the account is covered by your organization's data processing terms. A personal Gmail account gets the standard privacy protections above, but without that additional enterprise-grade layer. For anything genuinely sensitive, work or school, use the account type your organization actually pays for.

Where the real caution lives

• Regulated data (HIPAA, GDPR). Standard NotebookLM does not sign a Business Associate Agreement. If you handle protected health information or similarly regulated data, you need NotebookLM Enterprise through Google Cloud, not the consumer product. Full detail in is NotebookLM HIPAA compliant.
• Sharing settings. A notebook is only as private as its share list. Double-check Viewer versus Editor before sending a link, and remember public links make a notebook chattable by anyone who has the URL. See sharing and collaboration.
• Anything you would not want on a server at all. No privacy policy substitutes for simply not uploading material that cannot leave your control, regardless of which tool it is.

A practical rule of thumb

For personal research, study material, meeting notes and most professional documents, NotebookLM's default privacy protections are solid. For legal, medical or genuinely confidential business material, use a Workspace or Enterprise account, and when in doubt, redact identifying details before upload rather than after.

People also ask

Can other people see my NotebookLM notebooks?

No, not unless you explicitly share the notebook or make it public with a link. By default, your sources and notebooks are visible only to you.

Does NotebookLM sell my data?

Google states it does not use your uploaded content to train its models, and there is no indication of it selling notebook content. Standard Google account privacy policies apply otherwise.

Is it safe to upload confidential work documents?

It is safer on a Workspace account with enterprise data protections than on a personal account. For genuinely regulated data, use NotebookLM Enterprise instead of the consumer product.