NotebookLM: your private notes can remain public, how to protect them today

A recent leak suggests that NotebookLM could be transformed from a personal AI notebook into a platform where notebooks are visible, recognizable and—possibly—followed by other users. This disrupts the basic function of the tool and raises immediate questions about discovery, privacy, and collaboration.

Today, NotebookLM allows you to share a notebook via a direct link, but it does not offer a system for finding third-party work. That limitation could disappear with the changes that are beginning to be tested at Google.

What has been leaked

Sources linked to internal tests have shown screenshots and menus that enable creator customization options. These include the possibility of exhibiting a avatara public name and replace the automatic summary with a custom summary written by the author.

The leaked images also confirm that the notebooks could include a visual header, which makes identification easier when shared via link and gives a more editorial aspect to each project.

• Avatar and name: the creator can appear as a visible author on the notebook card.
• Custom summary: would allow replacing the summary generated by the AI ​​with one written by the user.
• Header images: Greater visual customization to distinguish projects.
• Publishing options: indications that some notebooks could go from private to publicly accessible.
• Possible discovery: The interface suggests mechanisms for finding or following creators, although those controls are still being tested.

Practical implications

If these features reach production, NotebookLM would no longer be just an AI-enabled personal note space. It would open the door to a model where authorship and reputation matter: recognizable profiles, own descriptions and more visible shared content.

The change would have specific effects:

• Creators could use their notebooks as a thematic showcase; specialists in an area would have a way of showing authority.
• Users would find projects and sources of knowledge without depending only on direct links.
• Tracking and discovery dynamics similar to those offered by platforms such as Substack o GitHubalthough applied to content generated with AI.

There are also risks that deserve attention: public visibility amplifies the need for moderation, clear definition of content rights and privacy controls. Changes in sharing can facilitate both collaboration and the dissemination of low-quality or misattributed material.

These tests dovetail with previous leaks showing customization tools for notebooks, so the move seems part of a broader strategy to turn NotebookLM into an author-identity environment.

What’s next

For now these are internal tests: there is no confirmed date for a global launch and Google usually iterates these functions before formalizing them. Interested users should keep an eye on official updates and privacy options in notebook settings.

In the short term, what is relevant is that NotebookLM could reconfigure how AI-assisted knowledge is created, shared and discovered, affecting researchers, content creators and teams that use the tool to collaborate.

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Diego Soler explores technological trends and digital innovations. You will enjoy practical tutorials and direct advice to better understand artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and new technologies.