In the past, Gmail, Chat, and Meet users had the option to activate Google’s AI software. But in October, the Alphabet unit allegedly “secretly enabled Gemini” in all of those apps, allowing it to collect private data “without users’ knowledge or consent,” according to the complaint filed Tuesday night in federal court in San Jose, California.
While the company allows users to disable Gemini, one must delve into Google’s privacy settings to turn off the AI tool, according to the proposed class action.
If they don’t, Google will use Gemini “to access and explore users’ entire recorded history of private communications, including literally every email and attachment sent and received in their Gmail accounts,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit alleges that Google is violating California’s Invasion of Privacy Act of 1967, which prohibits confidential communications from being intercepted and secretly recorded without the consent of all parties involved.
When contacted by Report, Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.
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