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An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.extremetech.com/internet/psa-starlink-now-uses-customers-personal-data-for-ai-training [extremetech.com]

Starlink recently updated its Privacy Policy to explicitly allow it to share personal customer data with companies to train AI models. This appears to have been done without any warning to customers (I certainly didn't get any email about it), though some eagle-eyed users noticed a new opt-out toggle on their profile page.

The updated Privacy Policy [starlink.com] buries the AI training declaration at the end of its existing data sharing policies. It reads:

"We may share your personal information with our affiliates, service providers, and third-party collaborators for the purposes we outline above (e.g., hosting and maintaining our online services, performing backup and storage services, processing payments, transmitting communications, performing advertising or analytics services, or completing your privacy rights requests) and, unless you opt out, for training artificial intelligence models, including for their own independent purposes."

SpaceX doesn't make it clear which AI companies or AI models it might be involved in training, though xAI's Grok [extremetech.com] seems the most likely, given that it is owned and operated by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Elsewhere in Starlink's Privacy Policy, it also discusses using personal data to train its own AI models, stating:

"We may use your personal information: [...] to train our machine learning or artificial intelligence models for the purposes outlined in this policy."

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any opt-out option for that. I asked the Grok support bot whether opting out with the toggle would prevent Starlink from using data for AI training, too, and it said it would, but I'm not sure I believe it.

How to Opt Out of Starlink AI Training

To opt out of Starlink's data sharing for AI training purposes, navigate to the Starlink website and log in to your account. On your account page, select Settings from the left-hand menu, then select the Edit Profile button in the top-right of the window.

In the window that appears, look to the bottom, where you should see a toggle box labeled "Share personal data with Starlink's trusted collaborators to train AI models."

Select the box to toggle the option off, then select the Save button. You'll be prompted to verify your identity through an email or SMS code, but once you've done that, Starlink shouldn't be able to share your data with AI companies anymore.

At the time of writing, it doesn't appear you can change this setting in the Starlink app.

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