Google Issues Privacy Alert For Gemini AI: Here's What's Being Collected On You
As AI continues to be the focus of many tech companies, the ever-growing power of the technology is garnering the attention of a wide swath of users. A large part of why more people are turning to AI is because of how companies, like Google and Microsoft, are targeting it to their customers. Google began the Gemini era in December of last year, and most recently launched Gemini Advanced. However, the tech giant has now posted a blog post, essentially warning users about how their data will be collected while they use the Gemini App.
The types of data that users need to be aware of being collected by Google, which it states is consistent with its Privacy Policy, are the following:
- Conversations
- Location
- Feedback
- Usage Information
The company remarked, “When Gemini is your mobile assistant, Google processes additional information to understand and respond to you and give you hands-free help.” It added, “This data helps us provide, improve, and develop Google products, services, and machine-learning technologies, like those that power Gemini Apps.
Google gave a couple of examples of how it goes about collecting data. The first is when a user uses past conversations, location, and related info to generate a response. The second is when Google reviews a user’s feedback and uses it to help make Gemini Apps safer. Google adds that it also uses data collected from user feedback to help reduce common problems with large language models.
This has led some to question who or what exactly has access to the data being collected. The policy does share that conversations reviewed by humans are kept separately from users’ Google Accounts for up to three years. This remains the case even if a user deletes their Gemini app activity. Another aspect that is concerning is that conversations can be stored with users’ accounts for up to 72 hours, even when Gemini Apps Activity is off.
The main point in all of this is that everyone needs to be mindful of what they are sharing on the internet or with machine learning systems like conversational AI and generative AI, especially, when discussing life with your Gemini assistant.
