Is NotebookLM private? Account types, feedback and client documents

The answer starts with the account you use and the document you intend to upload. Google's published terms differ by account and license; your permission to use client material is a separate question.

Google's current documentation calls the product Gemini Notebook. This guide summarizes the relevant published terms as checked on 21 October 2026 and gives you a way to evaluate a specific use. It does not assess your firm's contract, security requirements or legal obligations.

Identify the account and license first

Read Google's Privacy and Terms of Use alongside its work and school account table. The latter distinguishes additional-service access from qualifying core-service or add-on access.

Scroll sideways to compare all columns.

The work-account table lists different data handling for standard additional-service access and qualifying editions. For standard access, Google says your data is not used to train Gemini Notebook unless you provide feedback, and that with feedback we may review the full context of that interaction, including your queries, uploads, and the model’s responses. For qualifying editions it says: Your uploaded files, chats and model outputs won’t be reviewed by human reviewers or used to improve generative AI models. Confirm the edition; the phrase “work account” alone is not enough.

Understand what feedback changes

The privacy page says The content in Gemini Notebook will not be used to directly train our foundational AI models, unless you choose to provide feedback. A thumbs up or down sends the associated content with it: prompts, sources, uploads, outputs and any Gemini chats included in the notebook context, even if your Gemini Apps Activity is turned off. That feedback is Reviewed by specially trained teams, disconnected from your Google Account before reviewers see it, and retained for up to 3 years. Google adds: Please help us by not including any confidential or sensitive information in your feedback. Separately, data that Gemini Notebook shares with other Google services, such as the Gemini app, is used per the Google Privacy Policy and any service specific notices (e.g., the Gemini Apps Privacy Notice), including for product improvement.

For Google Workspace and Workspace for Education users, the same page says uploads, queries and the model’s responses will not be reviewed by human reviewers even when you provide thumbs up or down feedback, and will not be used to train AI models. The work-account table limits that handling to editions where Notebook is a core service or add-on, so check the license-specific table above before applying it to your account.

In practice, decide how your team will report an incorrect answer before the first client document is used. A support report can describe the type of problem with invented text. If the issue can only be demonstrated with the actual material, establish who is authorized to submit it and under which account. Feedback is part of the data flow you are evaluating.

Sharing concerns the sources as well as the answer

Google's notebook-sharing documentation says a viewer has read-only access to all the source documents and notes you shared with them, and an editor can add or remove sources and notes as well as share it further with other users. It also cautions that Chat View does not completely revoke a viewer's underlying access to the notebook contents. Do not treat a simplified reading view as proof that the underlying material is hidden.

A notebook can also be made public, and its owner can then share artifacts such as reports, slide decks or audio overviews. Google says: Anyone who has the link to your shared artifacts can view them, even if they are not signed in to their Google accounts. Treat a public artifact link as readable by anyone it reaches.

Before sharing a notebook, list its intended readers and the material each reader is permitted to see. A client-approved summary does not necessarily authorize sharing the source pack that produced it. Review exported documents separately too: the sharing guide says notebook permissions do not carry over to exported files.

A useful review question is concrete: “If this person opens the shared notebook or exported document, which client facts will they be able to read?” Check that answer using non-sensitive test material before deciding how to distribute work.

A client-document decision record

For each new kind of material, a short record makes the decision easier to explain later. This is an evaluation aid, not a compliance approval.

For example, explaining a general project-planning method may need no client document at all. Comparing two client-approved proposals does require their actual terms. Those are different requests and should not inherit the same upload decision just because they use the same product.

If an answer is unknown, write “unknown” rather than treating a paid plan or a familiar vendor name as a substitute. Ask the account administrator for the missing detail. For readers choosing a different kind of product, the alternatives guide compares jobs rather than making privacy rankings.

What choosing the input means with Equerry

Equerry accepts material you choose to send, such as an email thread you forward or CC, or a note you save. It does not ask for your inbox. That describes input scope, not a confidentiality guarantee. The privacy policy describes server-held excerpts and facts, iCloud-stored content, email processing and the providers involved in answering questions.

Try the experience with a fictional note before evaluating any client material:

Extracted facts are visible in Settings → Your memory and can be deleted individually. Review the policy for the different stored records and deletion behavior. The same account, permission and recipient questions belong in the decision for Equerry as for any service handling your work.

Last updated 2026-10-21.

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