Do video tools train AI on your uploads? Privacy and content-use policies compared

Why this matters for client and confidential footage

When you upload footage to a cloud editor, two documents govern what happens next. The terms of service set the licence you give the vendor over your content. The privacy policy says how the vendor uses data, including whether it trains machine learning models, where data is stored and how long it is kept.

Those two documents do not always agree with the marketing page, and they change. Every quote below was read on 30 October 2026 and carries the page's own last-updated date. This is a reading of public documents, not legal advice; if a contract or NDA governs your footage, have someone qualified compare it with the vendor's terms.

Policy comparison at a glance

Not stated means the document we read did not address the point. Dates are the last-updated dates printed on each document. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][9][10][11][12][13]

Descript and Riverside: read the exact wording

Descript's terms grant it a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sublicensable licence to use your content to provide, maintain and improve the service, and a separate clause lets it use your inputs and outputs to train, improve and develop its models unless you have opted out; third-party AI providers are barred from training their own models on them. [1] The privacy policy says it may use your Projects to analyse and improve the service and names training its AI models among research and development uses. [2] The opt-out is a setting called Share data with Descript, found under App Settings, Profile; you are asked about it during onboarding and can change it at any time, and Enterprise drives have it disabled by default with no toggle. [3] The same help page says Descript's current production models use no Descript user data, and internal research models use data only from users who opted into sharing. [3] Descript says it is based in the US and processes and stores information there. [2]

Riverside is the clearest example of documents pulling in different directions. Its privacy policy, revised 15 June 2026, says Content Data may be used by Riverside for improving the Services, including for training, and describes Riverside as an independent data controller for that use. [4] Its public FAQ says, in Riverside's words, that it does not own or use your content in any way. [5] A help article says third-party AI sub-processors such as OpenAI, Eleven Labs and HeyGen do not use customer data to train their own models, and says OpenAI retains data for a maximum of 30 days and HeyGen deletes it after 30 days. [6] The same article calls most AI features opt-in, so you avoid them by not applying them, but describes transcription and the Made for You suite as built in; Business users can disable some of those tools. [6] The policy names a training opt-out for business-plan customers who have one in a written agreement. [4] If confidentiality matters, rely on the privacy policy and any signed agreement, not the FAQ.

CapCut, FlexClip, Filmora and Screen Studio

CapCut's terms say it does not own your content, but you grant an unconditional, fully transferable, sub-licensable, perpetual and worldwide licence for operating, developing and providing the Services, subject to your platform settings. [10] The privacy policy says CapCut may collect content you create, import, upload or generate, including through pre-uploading at the time of creation, and lists training, testing and improving machine learning models as a use. [11] We found no training opt-out in either document. Treat CapCut as unsuitable for footage you are not allowed to share.

FlexClip's privacy policy says files you upload are private to your account unless you share them, and that data obtained through Google APIs is not used for AI and not sent to third-party AI providers such as OpenAI or Anthropic. [7] It does not make the same explicit statement for media you upload directly, and its help article only says FlexClip will never store or use personal data without consent. [8] FlexClip also says it does not provide data backup or recovery, and that a deleted account and all associated data are permanently removed after a 14-day grace period. [7]

Wondershare's privacy policy says Filmora AI features process uploaded photos, videos and audio only after you consent, that AI providers are contractually prohibited from other uses, and that Wondershare does not use this data to train its own general AI models. [9] It also discloses where AI data can go: Google servers, OpenAI and Kuaishou for Filmora AI, and Volcano Engine servers in mainland China for ReelMate. [9] Because that processing is tied to Filmora AI features you consent to, editing without those features is the conservative choice for confidential footage.

Screen Studio processes recordings locally and says they are never uploaded to its servers unless you choose to create a shareable link; shared links and their data can be deleted at any time. [12] Its text-to-speech sends only the text and voice settings to Speechify. [12] The homepage adds that optional cloud transcription deletes audio from the server once the transcript is returned. [14] The terms say the client is responsible for its data and do not grant Screen Studio a broad licence over recordings. [13]

Checklist for client or confidential footage

• Read the vendor's privacy policy and terms on the day you start, and save a PDF with the date; the dates in the table above will change.
• In Descript, turn off Share data with Descript in App Settings, Profile before importing client media, and confirm it for every team member's account. [3]
• On Riverside, if you need a training opt-out, get it in a written agreement on a business plan, as the privacy policy describes. [4]
• Avoid tools whose terms grant a transferable, sub-licensable licence with no opt-out for footage under NDA. [10][11]
• Prefer local processing (Screen Studio recording, desktop editing without AI features) for the most sensitive material, and do not create share links for it. [12]
• Check where data is stored if your client has data-residency requirements: Descript names the US, Wondershare names Singapore, the US and EU, and Riverside lists several jurisdictions including Canada and Israel. [2][4][9]
• Know the deletion route before you upload: FlexClip permanently deletes an account and its data after a 14-day grace period and offers no backup, and Screen Studio takes deletion requests by email. [7][12]
• Record what you checked and when in the project file, so you can show the client what applied at the time.

Who can use cloud AI features without worry

If your footage is your own, already public, or destined for social posting anyway, these policies mostly affect how you feel about it rather than what you can do. The bigger practical risk is confidential client work, unreleased product footage, medical or legal recordings, and interviews with people who did not agree to third-party processing.

For that material, the safest configuration among the tools here is local recording and editing with cloud and AI features off, or Descript with data sharing disabled and documented. Whatever you choose, the decision should be made from the current policy text, not from a feature page.

Sources & verification

Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.

1. Descript: Terms of Service Accessed 30 Oct 2026
2. Descript: Privacy Policy Accessed 30 Oct 2026
3. Descript Help: Account data and privacy Accessed 30 Oct 2026
4. Riverside: Privacy Policy Accessed 30 Oct 2026
5. Riverside: FAQ Accessed 30 Oct 2026
6. Riverside Help: AI at Riverside, everything you need to know Accessed 30 Oct 2026
7. FlexClip: Privacy Policy Accessed 30 Oct 2026
8. FlexClip Help: Does FlexClip store any personal data? Accessed 30 Oct 2026
9. Wondershare: Privacy Policy Accessed 30 Oct 2026
10. CapCut: Terms of Service Accessed 30 Oct 2026
11. CapCut: Privacy Policy Accessed 30 Oct 2026
12. Screen Studio: Privacy and Cookie Policy Accessed 30 Oct 2026
13. Screen Studio: Terms of Service Accessed 30 Oct 2026
14. Screen Studio: Official site Accessed 30 Oct 2026