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UPDATE: Google reached out to us regarding this report. Please see their statement below.
“Our generative AI features are designed to give users choice and keep them in control of their data. Using Gemini in Google Workspace requires a user to proactively enable it, and when they do their content is used in a privacy-preserving manner to generate useful responses to their prompts, but is not otherwise stored without permission.” – a Google spokesperson
While Gemini is parsing the data within Google Workspace (when enabled by the user), Google says the data is protected in a manner so that it is not stored (and presumably not used for generative AI training).
Original Story
How AI gets smarter and in turn more helpful is that it needs data to train itself. This usually requires consent from the platforms or individuals that the data is being taken from. Unfortunately for at least one user, it seems that Google’s Gemini AI could be accessing files it does not have permission to view.
According to a post on X by Kevin Bankston, he recently pulled up his tax return on Google Docs. To his surprise, Gemini automatically provided a summary of the document. This is despite the fact that he never asked for it to begin with. To make matters worse, when he asked Gemini how to disable the feature, the AI “hallucinated” and provided instructions for settings that do not exist.
Bankston eventually found the settings himself, where he discovered that it was already disabled. Bankston postulated several theories as to why this could have happened. One of which could be due to him enabling Google Workspace Labs back in 2023. Another reason could be due to Google’s internal systems malfunctioning.
The greater issue here is privacy, especially when it comes to personal and sensitive content. Obviously having AI like Gemini accessing files it doesn’t have permission to view is troubling. Google has yet to respond to the issue, so here’s hoping it was a genuine mistake on their part.
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