Google Denies 'Misleading' Reports of Gmail Using Your Emails To Train AI (theverge.com)
- Reference: 0180194075
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/11/24/1625249/google-denies-misleading-reports-of-gmail-using-your-emails-to-train-ai
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/news/826902/gmail-ai-training-data-opt-out
> Google is [1]pushing back on viral social media posts and articles like [2]this one by Malwarebytes , claiming Google has changed its policy to use your Gmail messages and attachments to train AI models, and the only way to opt out is by disabling "smart features" like spell checking.
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> But Google spokesperson Jenny Thomson tells The Verge that "these reports are misleading -- we have not changed anyone's settings, Gmail Smart Features have existed for many years, and we do not use your Gmail content for training our Gemini AI model."
[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/826902/gmail-ai-training-data-opt-out
[2] https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/11/gmail-is-reading-your-emails-and-attachments-to-train-its-ai-unless-you-turn-it-off
Very specific denial (Score:3, Interesting)
"and we do not use your Gmail content for training our Gemini AI model".
What about other, or upcoming, models?
What's that saying again? (Score:3)
"Never take any speculation as being confirmed until a statement of denial about it is issued."
Re: (Score:2)
> "Never take any speculation as being confirmed until a statement of denial about it is issued."
In this case a false denial would put them in violation of two FTC consent decrees, and would almost certainly leak (Google employees are not known for keeping their mouths shut), so it would be a particularly stupid thing to do.
Doesn't matter (Score:2, Troll)
It doesn't matter what they say, just disable them.
I'm a long time Gmail user, and I disabled these smart features years ago because they were annoying. I just want to see my inbox, sorted chronologically. Luckily they still let you do that.
However I continue to see them dangle new features in front of my face with the text "Turn on smart features to use this." They really want me to turn them on for some reason, I wonder why.
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly ... I don't want my fuckin' email client "putting words in my mouth." Literally makes me want to put my hand through the screen. Same with the naggitty-nag-na-nag-na-nagging to turn on x feature. If I wanted to have a clanker finish my sentences, stink my photos with the clown, etc, I'd turn on those features myself. Please stop with the picking at users.
Re: (Score:2)
I use Apple Mail to do my gmail stuff, so all their web/app BS was never an issue for me.
But I did turn off all that stuff because, meh, who knows, corporations are not known for their honesty.
AND I also have a Proton account for stuff that actually matters.
I believe them (Score:4, Insightful)
> we have not changed anyone's settings
Because those settings have always done this
> we do not use your Gmail content for training our Gemini AI model.
Because we're already done with that, but we will continue to sell it to advertisers because is our core business and always has been.
article updated (Score:3, Informative)
The malwarebytes article has been updated to clarify they don't use it to train their AI.
Plural to singular (Score:1)
Internet: "Google is using your email to train AI models!"
Google: "We don't use them to train our Gemini model."
Um... can we have more details? We suspect a devil infestation.
Saying the quiet part out loud (Score:2)
> Google Denies 'Misleading' Reports
Translation: "Don't believe your lying eyes".
Your data used for other AI models, ads, ... (Score:2)
Face it: Google is a data nympho. Google will split legal hairs to get everything they want.
Re: (Score:2)
You misspelled "thief." Google is a data thief ...
Google is a Privacy Rapist (Score:2)
> Face it: Google is a data nympho.
I can them (and Meta[stasize]) "Privacy Rapists".
As usual (Score:2)
It's probably as usual: A company wants to write "Don't sue us if we use your e-mail with an AI model if you click the 'rewrite with AI' button," the lawyer writes future proof "Don't sue us when we use your data with AI" and the user reads "We will use your e-mails to train our AI to reproduce your e-mails!"
The only thing I am still missing is people posting on their walls (or whatever that is in the Google ecosystem) that they opt-out of the ToS.
Professional liar claims to be telling the truth (Score:2)
News at 11.
They won't get much out of mine (Score:2)
Mostly spam, an auto pay notification on my cellular carrier, nothing else to be found in there
Not Gemini, how about other models? (Score:2)
I find it interesting the official statement specifically refers to Gemini AI model, leaving the possibility for training a different models without contradicting their statement. Those models in turn could be referenced by Gemini, or heck, those models could be used to train Gemini, but the official statement will technically still be true - emails not used for training Gemini AI model (directly).
What they didn't say (Score:2, Interesting)
Notice they said absolutely nothing about using it to target keyword ads at you, build profiles about you to target you with ads, and whatever else they're doing with the data to push more bullshit ads on you. The only smart feature is to disable the account and use something else that respects your privacy.
Re:What they didn't say (Score:5, Informative)
> Notice they said absolutely nothing about using it to target keyword ads at you, build profiles about you to target you with ads
Of course they didn't say that. They've always been open about doing that for unpaid consumer accounts, it's how they can provide the service for free. If you don't want your the ads, or for your data to be used, you can get that, starting at at [1]$7 per month [google.com].
[1] https://workspace.google.com/lp/business/
Re: (Score:3)
> They've always been open about doing that for unpaid consumer accounts, it's how they can provide the service for free.
An everybody else who provides a similar service for free does the same thing, only with worse spam filters (say what you want, Gmail has the best spam filters in the business - they don't want the competition).
Re: (Score:3)
> a similar service for free
Free is a fiction that exists exclusively in the minds of stupid people.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know why you think this is a revelation. They have explicitly said they do this in the past. Why would you expect them to mention it now? This story is about AI training, no one asked Google for an itemised list of what they do.
Re: (Score:2)
They are personalizing ads with e-mail content for decades. And they are probably now using AI for that, who would have thought ... this does still not imply that an AI is trained with that e-mail or the advertiser gets to see the keywords. An advertiser may still guess the kind of e-mails you get when you click the ad, because they know what keywords they targeted.
Re: (Score:2)
I noticed that they were very specific about what AI model they were NOT using Gmail data to train on. What one are they training? Or are they selling access to others? Then they can just buy those companies when they are finished and merge it into Gemini...
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly. A classic deceptive answer, which implies that of course they are using emails to do some sort of training.
Re: What they didn't say (Score:2)
Gemini is Google's AI. There are various names for various models, but they're all under the Gemini umbrella.
Re:What they didn't say (Score:4, Interesting)
I just use GMail as a trash box for sign-ups. I don't give our my real address to anyone except friends and family.
They are welcome to plumb the depths of spam hell all they want...