Here's What Happens If You Don't Consent To Samsung's New AI Health Data Toggle

Our smartphones can be valuable tools, not only for communication, but also for keeping up with our schedules and even for staying on top of our health. Modern smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra can help you stay on top of how you're sleeping, your stress levels, as well as your energy scores, heart health, and more. Having all of this information accessible is handy, and Samsung is constantly updating its Samsung Health app with new and useful features. However, a report by Android Authority suggests that Samsung has decided to make a controversial move by forcing users to choose between consenting to let the company train AI using their health data, or have their health data deleted entirely — at least, that appeared to be the case when the feature first arrived.

In July 2026, Samsung Health users begun to receive a new notice upon opening the Health app, asking them to consent to let Samsung use health and wellness data, records, menstrual cycle tracking, and other health tracking metrics to train AI models. This notice also added a new toggle underneath the Privacy section of the app's settings called "Consent to the use of health data for AI training and modeling." 

While the toggle can be turned off, doing so when the feature first launched would pop up another notice informing you that withdrawing from the agreement would delete all of your health data and remove the ability to sync health data with your Samsung account. The wording made it appear as if you wouldn't be able to sync your data at all, however Samsung has since clarified that this is not the case, and data sync will continue with your Samsung account even if you opt out of AI training.

It is not yet clear if the data that Samsung Health is capturing and will use to train AI can be connected back to individual users in any way. That is perhaps one of the biggest concerns around giving AI your health data, especially when you start talking about such sensitive information as medication records, health records, and even the tracking of menstrual cycles. Once that information leaves your device, it becomes much more susceptible to exposure.

Not everyone wants to feed their data to an AI, but they still want to take advantage of their smartphone's health features. The good news is it appears you can still continue to use Samsung Health to sync your data. Despite the original notification's wording that you wouldn't be able to do so, Samsung clarified with SamMobile after online backlash regarding the move that it would not delete synced data for users who opted out. Instead, the data that it was referencing was only the data that had been gathered for AI training. The company also noted that it would update the wording of the notification; however, as of this article's publishing, the original wording still remains.

Unfortunately, without more details on exactly how it plans to use your data, or how secure it will be, this move from Samsung feels a bit hostile toward consumers with the current wording. It is good to know that isn't the plan — though it's hard to say if Samsung is only changing up its plans due to backlash, or if it always intended the deleted data to be used for AI training. If you do choose to move away from Samsung Health entirely, then you can always export your data before you delete it by following the instructions on Samsung's website.

Ultimately, the move to train its AI models with user data appears to be tied to Samsung's ongoing expansion into AI-driven features. In 2025, details about the companies planned AI-based health coaching began to surface. The data that Samsung collects will likely be used in conjunction with other advancements to improve those models and provide deeper AI-powered insights for Samsung users.

The company shared plans to offer even deeper AI coaching through AI-recommended workout plans, as well as new features on Samsung devices that will let AI keep you up to date on your vitals, your fitness index, and more. The AI will also reportedly help with providing deeper and healthier nutritional direction for your diet. However, to do all of that effectively, the AI needs data to not only look at, but also to be trained on so that it knows what to look for.

Samsung has previously shared details about its plan to offer its devices as a powerful assistant to AI living, providing deeper insights into self-care, family care, and even your pet's care through its applications and experiences such as Samsung Health and SmartThings. Whether you decide to trust Samsung with all of the data needed to power these functionalities is another question, though.