Did you know Pinterest is using your data to train its AI?
Many social media services have begun implementing AI, and now Pinterest has followed suit. Anyone who uses Pinterest will now have their data used to train “Pinterest Canvas,” a generative artificial intelligence program (GenAI).
This is concerning because many artists share their content on Pinterest, such as their personal photography, art, and more, which may now be used to train AI.
On Mar. 6, 2025 a pop-up appeared on Pinterest announcing a privacy policy change where Pinterest plans to utilize users’ data to train their GenAI technology, including media that people upload.
COMPASS Freshman Isabella McConnehea shared that she did not notice any announcement about a privacy policy change on Pinterest. When asked about the update she states, “I don’t think that’s okay because what are they gonna use my data for? Why do they need that for AI?”
When logged in to Pinterest, users can access a “Manage GenAI settings” page where Pinterest states, “When you save or upload content to Pinterest, we may use it to improve the accuracy, safety and overall performance of Pinterest Canvas.”
According to Pinterest’s AI page, “We use GenAI technology to make ads more engaging and improve campaign performance for advertisers by enabling creation of backgrounds on product images using Pinterest Canvas, our image generation foundation model.”
Pinterest users are able to opt out of this change and protect their data from AI use at Pinterest, such as AI image generation. Users can go to their account settings, click on “Privacy and data,” then opt out of Pinterest’s “Use your data to train Pinterest Canvas” feature. Keep your data safe!
Dominic Palma • Apr 10, 2025 at 4:37 pm
As soon as I came across the article I was immediately intrigued with myself being an avid user of Pinterest. The reason why I use Pinterest was to gain inspiration for my art but as I’ve used it over the years I began to start sharing my art on Pinterest. Now, seeing this title in bold while scrolling through the Corydon my attention was immediately drawn to this article. I firstly had no idea this was taking place or that Pinterest had implemented an AI at all. Then seeing that this has been implemented since March 6th was even more shocking that I wasn’t aware of my lack of understanding. Also as is stated by Ms. Richter “When you save or upload content to Pinterest, we may use it to improve the accuracy, safety and overall performance of Pinterest Canvas”. I personally don’t like the idea of my information and actions being closely noted, and “to improve the accuracy, safety and overall performance of Pinterest” is quite a broad set of things that might justify the use of my information.
Riley Henderson • Apr 10, 2025 at 1:51 pm
Even though I don’t use Pinterest, I found the article super interesting and honestly a little alarming. I never really thought about how much of our content could be taken and used by companies to train their AI. It’s crazy to think that someone’s original art or photos could be used without their permission, and a lot of people probably don’t even know it’s happening.
The article did a great job explaining what Pinterest is doing and how users can protect themselves. I liked that it wasn’t just warning people, it also gave real steps to fix the problem. I don’t even have a Pinterest account, but it made me think about the apps I do use, like TikTok and Instagram. Are they doing the same thing? Should we be worried about them too?
It would be cool to see more articles like this that explain how AI is being used behind the scenes, especially in ways that affect students. Just because we’re teenagers doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know what’s happening with our data.
Isabel Hernandez • Apr 10, 2025 at 9:57 am
I really appreciate his article as it brought attention to an issue many students were not aware of. I have used Pinterest a handful of times to get inspiration, but had no idea they were using our content to train their AI. This is a major invasion of privacy, especially for those who put their own original pieces of work into the app. Pinterest making such a big change without making sure every user clearly saw the update, is not right. I think it’s extremely unfair that we’re automatically opted unless we learn how to go out of our way to turn it off. But I did appreciate how the article explained how to opt out of having our data used.
I believe that more awareness needs to be raised about these kinds of privacy settings, not just on Pinterest but all platforms. Thank you again to Allyson for writing about this topic. Articles of this manner help keep students safe and informed about what’s happening online.
Kathleen Richter • Apr 5, 2025 at 7:50 pm
Thanks for the information. I didn’t realize this. I’ll change mine right away!