Alphabet’s Google (GOOG) was accused in a lawsuit of using its Gemini AI assistant to unlawfully track the private communications of users of its Gmail, instant messaging, and videoconference programs, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
In the past, users of Gmail, Chat, and Meet were given the option to turn on Google’s artificial intelligence program.
But in October, the company “secretly” turned on Gemini for all those applications, enabling it to collect private data “without the users’ knowledge or consent,” according to the complaint filed late Tuesday in federal court in San Jose, California.
While the tech giant allows users to turn off Gemini, they need to dig into Google’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) privacy settings to deactivate the AI tool, according to the proposed class-action suit. Unless they take that step, Google uses Gemini 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,” according to the complaint.
