Klage: Google trackt Gmail mit Gemini

1 month ago 3

The specter of violating user privacy is once again haunting Google, and this time around, AI is at the center of it. Specifically, the Gemini AI and its deep integration within Google’s productivity tools, such as Gmail and Meet, have triggered a class-action lawsuit alleging that the AI chatbot unlawfully tracked users’ private data.

The lawsuit claims that Gemini was “secretly” enabled within the aforesaid apps that are bundled with the Workspace productivity apps suite. Some of the claims made in the lawsuit are pretty damning and concerning for any user who dips into Google apps on a daily basis for getting work done. Take, for example, this segment:

“Despite users never giving Google informed consent to track and store their private communications, Google does just that, using Gemini AI to access and exploit the entire recorded history of its users’ private communications, including literally every email and attachment sent and received in their Gmail accounts.”

Why is this a cause of concern?

I have been using Google’s Gemini AI ever since it first landed on the mobile and web. Over the past year, Gemini has made its way to virtually every Google product, from Gmail and Calendar to even the Files app on Android. I have heavily pushed these tools, even when they’re integrated with third-party products such as Mind Space on the OnePlus 15.

But in the wake of the lawsuit, I am thinking of toning down — or disabling Gemini — in Google apps and software where I don’t require AI smarts. And if you’re someone who isn’t keen on shoehorning AI in products where you don’t need it, you should consider taking the same route.

Thankfully, disabling Gemini doesn’t require any overtly technical process. Instead, you can disable it collectively for multiple apps, such as Gemini, Drive, and Photos, from the unified dashboard. Do keep in mind that the process is different if you enabled “connector” access to these apps for other AI products such as ChatGPT or the Perplexity AI assistant.

Disabling Gemini for other apps

There are multiple ways to disable Gemini. Since Gmail is one of the most widely used Google products, we will start there. To do so, follow these steps:

Open Gmail on the web and in the top row, click on the gear-shaped Settings icon.
In the side panel that opens alongside the right edge, click on the All Settings option.
On the unified settings dashboard that opens, scroll down till you find the option that says Google Workspace smart features. Tap on the corresponding pill-shaped button that says Manage Workspace smart feature settings.
Next, you will see a large pop-up window titled Google Workspace smart features that gives a unified access point for controlling Gemini and other AI-powered features in Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Meet, and more.
If you only want to turn off Gemini within Workspace apps, flick to disable the first toggle. But if you also want Gemini to stop pulling data from other Google products to give you more personalized answers, also turn off the second toggle underneath.

Where else must you look for Gemini-fication?

Chrome is another app that is among the most widely used Google products across mobile and desktop. Naturally, it has been treated to a whole bunch of AI-powered features, such as conversational search and AI mode.

To disable these experiences, head over to Chrome’s settings section and disable all the toggles you see on the AI Innovations page. Depending on the region you are in, you might see more options, such as Gemini in Chrome and an AI-powered history search, as well.

Google has also enabled Gemini in the Photos app. In fact, AI has now been deeply integrated within the photo editing experience, as well. If you have a Google Pixel 10 Pro in your hands, Gemini is even powering your long-range zoom clicks.

It goes without saying that your camera clicks are among the most intimate data stored on your phone. Naturally, and given Google’s historical track record with safeguarding user data, you would not want an AI to take a peek at them, or worse, using any of the material for training AI models.

Unfortunately, there is no direct way of disabling it in the Photos app. Instead, you can choose to disable Gemini’s logging of your activity across different apps. To do that, follow these apps:

Open the Gemini app on your phone and tap on the profile icon in the top-right corner.
On the settings page that opens, tap on Gemini Apps Activity to visit the web dashboard.
Once there, you will see a Keep Activity Card, and below it, you will see a pill-shaped button with a down arrowhead. Tap on the button and set it to “Turn Off.”

Do keep in mind that Gemini is now integrated with even third-party apps, such as Spotify. So, you might want to disable that option, as well. To do so, once again open the Gemini app on your phone and follow these steps:

Tap on the profile icon in the top-right corner to open the Settings page.
Here, you will see an option called Connected Apps.
Once you tap on it, you will be taken to a page where you will see a list of all the apps that Gemini has access to.
You will find apps like Google Keep and Tasks among the Google Workspace banner. Disable that toggle.
Scroll down and you will find dedicated toggles for the Messages, Phone, WhatsApp, Spotify, Utilities (alarm, timer, notification, etc.), and Google Home, among others. Disable them all.

What other steps can you take?

Gemini comes with a whole bunch of tools for power users. It can now perform Deep Research on your emails and Drive files to create detailed reports. Simply put, even if you have disabled Gemini within these apps, avoid using it. Additionally, even after turning off Gemini activity logging, Google can still use your interaction data.

“The settings in Gemini Apps Activity don’t control processing of your chats to create anonymized data to improve Google services,” says the company on its privacy policy page. And now that Google is actively replacing Google Assistant with Gemini everywhere, including your smart home devices, the surface for exposure is only widening.

The best way forward is to keep it disabled for as many apps as possible. And where you can’t avoid it, make sure that you have checked all the privacy settings to minimize the collection and saving of your personal data, as long as it doesn’t break the core functionality.

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