Google's AI is now snooping on your emails without your permission – here's how to opt out

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• A new change allows Google to use your private emails and data to train its AIs.
• The change is rolling out without the permission or knowledge of users.
• A lawsuit has been filed charging Google with privacy violations.

Are you OK with Google snooping on your private emails to help train its AI without your permission? Nope, didn’t think so. But apparently that’s what the company has been doing.

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In a Thursday blog post, security firm Malwarebytes detailed a new change now rolling out to Gmail users in which their private emails and attachments are being used to train the company’s Gemini and other AI tools. Specifically, your emails could be analyzed to improve such features as Gmail’s Smart Compose, Smart Reply, and predictive text. But it doesn’t stop there. Google may also be snooping on your data in Chat, Meet, and Drive.

Without your knowledge or permission 

The problem here is that these options could be enabled automatically without your knowledge or permission. I checked the three Gmail settings described by Malwarebytes. All three were turned on.

The setting for “Turn on smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet” allows Google to use your content in Gmail, Chat, and Meet to provide smart features. The setting for “Smart features in Google Workspace” grants Gemini access to your data, allowing it to summarize your content. The third setting for “Smart features in other Google products” taps into your data in other products to suggest everything from restaurants to event tickets.

Now, you may be fine with Google analyzing your private data if it means you can use all its cool AI tools to answer your questions, improve your content, and personalize your experience. That’s not the point. Rather, the issue here is two-fold.

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First, Google seems to be opting you in to these features without your permission. Second, the company doesn’t seem to have notified its users about this. As a Gmail user, I don’t recall seeing any notifications about this change.

If you think this sounds unethical, you’re not alone. A proposed class-action lawsuit filed on November 11 in federal court in San Jose, California, alleges that Google secretly granted Gemini access to the private communications of Gmail, Chat, and Meet users. As reported by Bloomberg on November 12, the suit charges that doing so without the consent of users and making it difficult to opt out may be a violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act.

So far, Google hasn’t publicly chimed in on the lawsuit. I reached out to the company for comment and will update the story if I get a response.

How to stop Google snooping on your data

If you don’t want Google snooping on your data for AI training, you can certainly turn off any or all of the three key settings. Here’s how.

On the desktop, sign in to the Gmail website, click the Gear icon in the upper right, and then select the button to view all settings. At the General screen on the Settings page, look for the Smart features section. If the setting for “Turn on smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet” is turned on, click the checkbox to turn if off.

Also: How to turn off Gemini in your Gmail, Photos, Chrome, and more – it’s easy to opt out of AI

In the next section for Google Workspace smart features, click the button to manage Workspace smart feature settings. At the pop-up window, turn off the switches for “Smart features in Google Workspace” and “Smart features in other Google products.”

In the Gmail mobile app, tap the three-lined icon in the upper left and select Settings. In the iOS app, tap the setting for Data privacy. In the Android app, tap the name of your Google account. Turn off the switch for Smart features. Tap the option for “Google Workspace smart features” and then turn off the switches for “Smart features in Google Workspace” and “Smart features in other Google products.”