When I registered, Gemini did not request authorization to integrate itself with my email. Now, Google’s chatbot has access to more personal information than I would prefer. Here’s how to opt out. Google’s Gemini is closely integrated with nearly all Workspace applications, including Gmail. During my testing of the AI chatbot, I anticipated features that would help me rephrase an email to sound more formal or summarize lengthy threads. Instead, I received a firsthand lesson in how intrusive Gemini can be when it has access to 16 years of my email history.
What’s even more alarming is that enrolling in Google’s AI Pro plan automatically activates Gemini’s integration with Gmail—without providing any explanation regarding its functionality or an option to decline it. Therefore, you should reconsider using your primary Google account for signing up for Gemini. If you are interested in using Gemini in Gmail or want to see just how intrusive it can be, here’s what you should expect.
How Does Gemini Have This Information?
Clicking the Gemini icon in Gmail launches a sidebar where you can communicate with Gemini about your emails. In my trial, it was able to provide me with helpful information, such as the arrival date of my next Trade coffee delivery and any urgent emails that I needed to respond to. However, it goes much further than that.
When I inquired about my first crush, Gemini was able to identify that it happened in elementary school, along with the name of my first love, how we met, and when we met. Upon my request, Gemini also shared who my top Facebook friends were in 2009 and who my best friend was in 2010. Additionally, Gemini noted that one of my character flaws is that I become “too laser-focused on what [I] want, which takes a toll on [my] relationships, much like Drake from the Uncharted game.” And yes, that is one of my favorite gaming franchises, which Gemini seems to recognize as well.
How does Gemini have this knowledge? The straightforward answer is that this information exists within the 16 years of my email history it can access. Why does Gemini sometimes conclude its messages with “Cheers, Ruben” as if it were me? Gemini can compose emails in my personal style using its new Smart Reply feature, but why does it mimic my style when we converse?
It may just be a simple glitch, but I find the potential implications of Smart Reply concerning, considering my prior experiences: What if Gemini inadvertently includes deeply personal information in an email, and I send it by accident? My primary conclusion is that I find all of this quite unsettling.
Can You Rely on Google to Safeguard Your Privacy?
What does Google do with details regarding my romantic history and character flaws? Its privacy policy is fairly transparent: Google gathers various information when you use Gemini, including your complete chat history. The company utilizes this data to enhance its products and train its large language models. However, Google does not use Gemini data from Google Workspace applications, like Gmail, for training, advertising purposes, or selling. I value that assurance, but my trust in Google is not complete.
In 2025, Google consented to a $1.375 billion settlement for collecting Texans’ biometric information without their consent, and a state-sponsored group exploited a vulnerability in Google Chrome to monitor Russian users. In 2024, Google faced backlash for ‘misleading and aggressive’ data practices. Google’s past record is not much better, highlighted by the Google+ user information leak in 2018 and the Gmail password breach in 2014.
Regardless of Gemini’s presence, my data resides on Google’s servers, making me vulnerable to numerous hacks and leaks. However, having Gemini integrated into my email means that a malicious actor could potentially not only gain access to my account or data but also utilize a handy tool to directly inquire about nearly any significant event in my life over the past two decades.
Should You Allow Gemini to Access Your Email?
This query lacks a straightforward response, largely relying on your perspective regarding online privacy. I prefer to keep Gemini out of my personal email and Google Drive files (another integration that occurs automatically upon signing up for the premium Gemini subscription), but I’m more receptive to using Gemini in a professional setting.
As someone who primarily earns a living by working from home online, I’m accustomed to utilizing accounts and devices that don’t entirely belong to me. I feel less uneasy about Gemini analyzing my work communications with PR representatives or reviewing my meeting history. I’m interested in feedback about how my meeting scheduling might negatively impact my reputation.
Deciding whether you’re comfortable with Gemini in your email or elsewhere is entirely your choice. Just ensure you understand what information is in your data and that you’re okay with a chatbot learning detailed aspects of your life before granting it email access. Personally, it feels invasive to me. I no longer intend to let Gemini access my personal email.
Google doesn’t clearly explain how to disable Gemini in Gmail, but it can be done. Navigate to Gmail’s settings and select the “Manage Workplace smart feature settings” button. Here, you can disable smart features (including Gemini) in Google Workplace. If you subsequently click the Gemini button, it merely prompts you to re-enable smart features.
Google explains that the information collected assists them in providing, enhancing, and developing products, services, and machine learning technologies.
The initial point in that statement should raise some concerns. Who can view your Gemini conversations? Google states:
We prioritize your privacy and do not sell your personal data to anyone. To help improve Gemini while safeguarding your privacy, we choose a sample of conversations and utilize automated tools to remove identifiable user details (such as email addresses and phone numbers).
Regarding the warning, in the section titled Your data and Gemini Apps, you will find this sentence:
Please refrain from entering confidential information in your conversations or any data that you wouldn’t want a reviewer to see or Google to use for improving our products, services, and machine-learning technologies.
Farther down, you’ll discover details about how long the reviewed data is stored, which Google specifies:
Conversations from Gemini Apps that have been evaluated by human reviewers are not deleted when you erase your Gemini Apps activity because they are kept separately and aren’t linked to your Google Account. Instead, they are maintained for a duration of up to three years.
Three years. That’s the length of time your conversations will be held, even after you choose to delete your activity from the Gemini app. Google follows up with the cautionary note: “Even if Gemini Apps Activity is off, your conversations will be stored with your account for a maximum of 72 hours. This enables Google to provide the service and process any feedback. This activity won’t appear in your Gemini Apps Activity.”
What does this imply? To put it simply, you should heed Google’s advice and refrain from disclosing sensitive information in your interactions with Gemini. Always.
This recent warning clearly indicates that Google emphasizes you should never input sensitive data into Gemini interactions and that every “chat” you have with the app will be stored on Google servers for three years. One of the concluding statements in the warning reads:
Avoid entering anything you wouldn’t want a human reviewer to view or Google to utilize.
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