Perplexity privacy policy: what it says now, and 16 versions since 2023

The Morse teamPublished November 10, 202612 min read

As of November 2026, Perplexity's privacy policy is a "Privacy Notice" last updated October 23, 2026, and it no longer tells you how to stop Perplexity from training its AI on your searches or how soon a deleted account is erased. Both lines were cut in a rewrite dated July 2, 2026. The training opt-out had been in every version since December 5, 2023, and a 30-day deletion window had been there since the earliest version we found, dated February 5, 2023. The switch itself still exists in your account settings, but the legal document no longer mentions it.

Perplexity's site turned away our requests on November 10, 2026, so we read its privacy policy through copies saved by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, from February 2023 to the latest copy, saved October 31, 2026. We compared each version with the one before it, sentence by sentence, and found 16 versions at four web addresses, plus a separate Comet privacy notice from July 2025. We also read Perplexity's terms, its help center, its posts announcing ads, Comet, and the Motorola deal, Samsung's announcement, and the court records in two cases. Each "archived" link below goes to a saved copy of Perplexity's own page. A version that came and went between two saved copies could be missing.

The 2026 rewrite added one rule worth crediting. If a change is material, Perplexity says "the Notice that was in place when you submitted personal data to us will generally govern that data unless you consent to the new Notice."

What does Perplexity's privacy policy say now?

These are the rules in the October 23, 2026 notice, each with the version that first had that wording.

When was Perplexity's privacy policy last updated?

On October 23, 2026, four days after the version before it. The October 19 version removed two things. One was a note at the top of the page saying Perplexity had "clarified that we do not sell your personal data or send your queries, prompts, or conversation content to advertisers." The other was the whole section on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which had been in the policy since October 18, 2024. The notice gives no reason for either cut.

The October 23 version added steps to export or delete your data from your account page, and a form for anyone who represents "a regulatory agency or law enforcement." The notice says it shows "effective" and "last updated" dates. Every version since July 2, 2026 has shown only the last-updated date.

How has Perplexity's privacy policy changed since 2023?

It grew from a page of about 600 words that named OpenAI as a recipient of your questions into a notice of about 5,000 words that covers a browser, a health service, and advertising. Each date below is the one printed on that version.

The July 8, 2026 version changed at least twice without a new date. The copy saved July 12 has no advertiser note. The copy saved July 31 has it under the heading "We recently updated our consumer Privacy Notice," and by August 29 that heading was gone while the note stayed, still dated July 8.

Can you still opt out of AI training under Perplexity's privacy policy?

You can opt out in your settings, but the policy no longer says so. From June 2024 the sentence read "You may opt out of information collection for AI, which would prohibit us from using your search information to improve our AI models," and the February 5, 2026 version still had it. The July 2 rewrite deleted it but kept the use, and improving "our AI models" is still on the notice's list.

Perplexity's help center still describes the switch. A copy saved October 29, 2026 says "AI Data Retention is enabled by default" for Free, Pro, and Max users, and that opting out applies only to data collected afterward (archived Perplexity help page). The same page sends you to "our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy" for "complete details about data types, uses, and opt-out options." The privacy notice it points to has no opt-out in it. Our guide to whether Perplexity is private covers where the switch is and what it does and doesn't stop.

How long does Perplexity keep your data after you delete your account?

The privacy policy no longer gives a number. The February 2023 version said "we will delete your personal information from our servers within 30 days." The October 18, 2024 version changed "will" to "aim to." The July 2, 2026 rewrite removed the sentence, and the deletion right now reads "If required by law, we will grant such a request," followed by a warning that "in many cases we must keep your personal data to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, or for other business purposes."

The number survives only in the help center, whose deletion article, last updated July 28, 2026, still says 30 days (archived Perplexity help page).

Perplexity's rights to what you upload also last as long as it keeps them. The terms of service, last updated January 23, 2026, give Perplexity a license to "use, host, cache, store, reproduce" and "modify" what you upload "to operate, improve, promote and provide the Services," and call it "irrevocable (for so long as Your Content is stored with us)."

Does Perplexity's privacy policy let advertisers see your searches?

The policy has listed advertisers as recipients since October 2024, and it never promised in its own body to keep your queries from them. Perplexity's policy dated October 18, 2024 added "Advertising Partners," described as "third parties who display advertising information on our Services or otherwise assist with the delivery of ads." On November 12, 2024, Perplexity announced ads as "sponsored follow-up questions" and wrote that "we will never share your personal information with advertisers" (archived Perplexity post).

The February 5, 2026 version went further. Its table gained a "Sharing for Targeted Advertising" column, and the line that had read "We do not 'sell' or 'share'" became "We do not 'sell'." The notice itself pairs the word "share" with "cross-context behavioral advertising." In the current table, "Advertising Partners" sit in that column for identifiers, purchase history, location, and "internet or other electronic network activity information," which "may include browsing history, search history." The only sentence that said your queries don't go to advertisers was the note at the top of the page, from late July to October 19, 2026.

What does Perplexity's privacy policy say about Comet?

Since July 2, 2026, the main notice covers Comet, and its incognito promise is weaker than the one Comet launched with. Perplexity released Comet to Max subscribers on July 9, 2025 (archived Perplexity post). Its own Comet Privacy Notice, dated July 8, 2025, said "if you browse in Incognito Mode, we will not collect or store Browsing Data or records of your downloads," and that "you have the option to block Comet from using this information, as well as browsing history, to improve Comet."

By August 2026, that address redirected to the main notice, which drops the promise not to collect or store browsing data in incognito. Its incognito promise is about other people: Comet Incognito can "limit the ability of others that use the same device to see your activity across sessions." Data Comet keeps on your computer "may be used to provide and improve Comet and recommend relevant content," with no mention of a way to block that.

A court has described what the assistant sends. In Amazon.com Services v. Perplexity AI, Amazon sued in November 2025, alleging that Comet's agent got into its customers' password-protected accounts without Amazon's permission. A district court granted Amazon a preliminary injunction in March 2026. On August 4, 2026, the Ninth Circuit vacated it, holding that "it is the user who 'accesses' Amazon's computers," and noting that the assistant "takes screenshots of the browser view, sends those screenshots from the user's computer to Perplexity's servers" (Ninth Circuit). The rest of Comet's data handling is in is Perplexity Comet safe.

Does the policy cover Perplexity Pro, Max, and Enterprise?

It covers Free, Pro, and Max, and has excluded business customers since 2024. The October 18, 2024 version said it "does not cover the use of the Perplexity API or Enterprise Pro, where we act solely as a processor," and the February 2026 version named Max alongside Pro. The current notice excludes "Perplexity's Enterprise and API offerings," which run under contracts instead. What Enterprise gets in their place, from training to file retention, is in is Perplexity private.

Do Samsung and Motorola phones change what Perplexity collects?

They add new ways for Perplexity to reach you, and the same notice covers them. On April 24, 2025, Perplexity said its app would come pre-installed on new Motorola phones with 3 months of Pro free, plus a "Next Move" feature that suggests questions "from the screen" (archived Perplexity post). The notice's business-partner clause applies to deals like that: "If you receive access to our services through a third party, including via the use of a promotion code," Perplexity "may share your personal data with that third party."

On February 22, 2026, Samsung said Perplexity would answer to "Hey Plex" on its next flagship phones and be "integrated at the system level" across several of Samsung's own apps (archived Samsung release), which we cover in is Galaxy AI private. The July 2026 notice added a voice section: "If you enable voice activation or choose to use the speech-to-query feature," Perplexity "may process data about your speech."

Has Perplexity been sued over user data?

Twice in cases that touch user data, and as of November 10, 2026 neither has left a ruling against Perplexity standing. Amazon's suit over Comet, above, turned on whether Perplexity or the user "accesses" a customer's account, and the injunction Amazon won was vacated. A user's 2026 class action alleging that Incognito chats reached Meta and Google was dropped within weeks, before any ruling, as we cover in is Perplexity private. We found no regulator's order against Perplexity over user data in our searches on November 10, 2026. How stored chats end up in court generally is in can AI chats be subpoenaed. This isn't legal advice.

How to keep your searches out of the next rewrite

Sixteen versions in under four years all governed the same thing: searches Perplexity keeps under your account, on its servers. Perplexity decides when the wording moves. The rewrite that dropped the opt-out and the 30-day line also dropped the promise to email you about material changes, and the note about advertisers came and went in under three months.

Morse keeps your chat history in your browser, encrypted, so there's no stored archive on our side for a policy change to apply to. Our servers don't keep messages or log what you write, though our privacy policy can change like anyone's. The account holds data such as sign-in details, your plan, your balance, and a usage ledger with no content. Today that policy says Morse doesn't train AI on what you write, sell your data, or show ads. Because we don't store chats, we usually have very little to give authorities.

Each chat runs in a mode you choose:

• Private, for the questions you'd have typed into Perplexity. It's the default for new chats. Morse has zero data retention agreements with its inference, search, and other providers, so they keep nothing. Where a provider confirms zero retention on each reply, Morse checks it and refuses a reply that doesn't.
• Anonymous, for GPT, Claude, or Gemini when you'd rather their makers not know who asked. Before the question leaves Morse, the proxy takes off your account, email, and IP address, and the provider receives it on Morse's account instead. The provider sees the message without knowing it's you. It may keep it for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy, which its owner can rewrite as Perplexity did, so write the question without your name in it.
• E2EE, for questions only a verified enclave should read. Your browser verifies the enclave's hardware attestation, then encrypts the message for that enclave alone, and Morse's servers relay ciphertext they can't read. The guarantee depends on the enclave hardware and attestation working as designed. E2EE runs open-weight models, without web search or image generation.

Unlocking your history needs a key that stays on your device and a second one our server hands you at sign-in, so a copy of the browser data alone opens nothing. Because Morse keeps no server copy, if you clear your browser or lose the device, the chats are gone and Morse can't recover them, so save elsewhere whatever you mean to keep.

Ask your next question from the Morse home page without an account, or start free with web search included and no card.