Google Gemini AI Raises Privacy Concerns After Accessing User's Private Document

How did Google Gemini summarize a user's private document?

Google Gemini is a multimodal AI service that's built into Google products, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets and works to do everything from summarize info to create pitch materials and generate images on the fly. Theoretically, you have to give Gemini and Google permission in order for it to read your Google Workspace content. According to Google's data privacy policy, "your Google Workspace content (emails, documents, etc.) will not be shared with other users without permission. This commitment covers all of our Google Workspace products for personal and business use, including Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Calendar, Meet, and Chat." But last week, a user on X said Google Gemini summarized some of his private documents. "I just pulled up my tax return in @Google Docs--and unbidden, Gemini summarized it. So...Gemini is automatically ingesting even the private docs I open in Google Docs? WTF, guys. I didn't ask for this. Now I have to go find new settings I was never told about to turn this crap off." The user, Kevin Bankster, said this could have just been a glitch for him. A Google spokesperson told Mashable over email that you have to proactively enable Gemini in Google Workspace and, once you do, Google has access to that information. "Our generative AI features are designed to give users choice and keep them in control of their data," a spokesperson said. "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." It's not entirely clear what's going on here. Tom's Hardware argues that there could be a couple of reasons behind the result -- AI could be "hallucinating (lying)," Google's internal systems could be malfunctioning, or it could be a third, more elusive reason. "For Bankston, the issue seems localized to Google Drive, and only happens after pressing the Gemini button on at least one document. The matching document type (in this case, PDF) will subsequently automatically trigger Google Gemini for all future files of the same type opened within Google Drive. He additionally theorizes that it may have been caused by him enabling Google Workspace Labs back in 2023, which could be overriding the intended Gemini AI settings," Tom's Hardware suggests. No matter what caused the slipup, it's not a great sign for AI in general, since there are already some privacy issues related to how data is collected, stored, and used by the generative systems.

How did Google Gemini summarize a user's private document?

Is Google Gemini being sneaky? Credit: Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Google Gemini is a multimodal AI service that's built into Google products, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets and works to do everything from summarize info to create pitch materials and generate images on the fly. Theoretically, you have to give Gemini and Google permission in order for it to read your Google Workspace content. According to Google's data privacy policy, "your Google Workspace content (emails, documents, etc.) will not be shared with other users without permission. This commitment covers all of our Google Workspace products for personal and business use, including Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Calendar, Meet, and Chat." But last week, a user on X said Google Gemini summarized some of his private documents. "I just pulled up my tax return in @Google Docs--and unbidden, Gemini summarized it. So...Gemini is automatically ingesting even the private docs I open in Google Docs? WTF, guys. I didn't ask for this. Now I have to go find new settings I was never told about to turn this crap off." The user, Kevin Bankster, said this could have just been a glitch for him. A Google spokesperson told Mashable over email that you have to proactively enable Gemini in Google Workspace and, once you do, Google has access to that information. "Our generative AI features are designed to give users choice and keep them in control of their data," a spokesperson said. "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." It's not entirely clear what's going on here. Tom's Hardware argues that there could be a couple of reasons behind the result -- AI could be "hallucinating (lying)," Google's internal systems could be malfunctioning, or it could be a third, more elusive reason. "For Bankston, the issue seems localized to Google Drive, and only happens after pressing the Gemini button on at least one document. The matching document type (in this case, PDF) will subsequently automatically trigger Google Gemini for all future files of the same type opened within Google Drive. He additionally theorizes that it may have been caused by him enabling Google Workspace Labs back in 2023, which could be overriding the intended Gemini AI settings," Tom's Hardware suggests. No matter what caused the slipup, it's not a great sign for AI in general, since there are already some privacy issues related to how data is collected, stored, and used by the generative systems.

How did Google Gemini summarize a user's private document?

Google Gemini is a multimodal AI service that's built into Google products, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets and works to do everything from summarize info to create pitch materials and generate images on the fly. Theoretically, you have to give Gemini and Google permission in order for it to read your Google Workspace content. According to Google's data privacy policy, "your Google Workspace content (emails, documents, etc.) will not be shared with other users without permission. This commitment covers all of our Google Workspace products for personal and business use, including Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Calendar, Meet, and Chat." But last week, a user on X said Google Gemini summarized some of his private documents. "I just pulled up my tax return in @Google Docs--and unbidden, Gemini summarized it. So...Gemini is automatically ingesting even the private docs I open in Google Docs? WTF, guys. I didn't ask for this. Now I have to go find new settings I was never told about to turn this crap off." The user, Kevin Bankster, said this could have just been a glitch for him. A Google spokesperson told Mashable over email that you have to proactively enable Gemini in Google Workspace and, once you do, Google has access to that information. "Our generative AI features are designed to give users choice and keep them in control of their data," a spokesperson said. "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." It's not entirely clear what's going on here. Tom's Hardware argues that there could be a couple of reasons behind the result -- AI could be "hallucinating (lying)," Google's internal systems could be malfunctioning, or it could be a third, more elusive reason. "For Bankston, the issue seems localized to Google Drive, and only happens after pressing the Gemini button on at least one document. The matching document type (in this case, PDF) will subsequently automatically trigger Google Gemini for all future files of the same type opened within Google Drive. He additionally theorizes that it may have been caused by him enabling Google Workspace Labs back in 2023, which could be overriding the intended Gemini AI settings," Tom's Hardware suggests. No matter what caused the slipup, it's not a great sign for AI in general, since there are already some privacy issues related to how data is collected, stored, and used by the generative systems.

Gemini might be reading private files without permission | Digital Trends

A troubling discovery was made late last week that call into question what all Google Gemini can and can't see. Kevin Bankston, the senior adviser on AI governance at the Center for Democracy and Technology, found that Gemini was able to automatically summarize his private tax returns that he'd viewed in Google Docs and posted about his findings on X. Just pulled up my tax return in @Google Docs-and unbidden, Gemini summarized it. So...Gemini is automatically ingesting even the private docs I open in Google Docs? WTF, guys. I didn't ask for this. Now I have to go find new settings I was never told about to turn this crap off. — Kevin Bankston (@KevinBankston) July 10, 2024 This is something that, in theory, the AI assistant very much shouldn't be able to do without express authorization from the user. His search for the privacy setting that would disable this behavior only led to even more concerning issues about what generative AI systems ingest and how. Recommended Videos Bankston initially spent 15 minutes quizzing the AI itself for directions to the necessary setting menu, but to no avail. The system would only give him information on how to manage his Gemini chat history. What's more, neither of the settings suggestions that the system did offer actually resolved Bankston's issue, and when he did find the option to disable summarizations in Google Workspace, it was in an entirely different menu than what Gemini told him. Per the AI itself, those settings should be openly available to users. So, given that they aren't, Bankston argues that the AI is either "hallucinating (lying)" or something within Google's servers is not operating as it should. While he was subsequently directed toward the Gemini Workspace privacy commitments page, he wondered, "what if I still don't want it looking at my docs unprompted? I didn't *ask* it to summarize my taxes, it just did. It should be up to me whether/which private docs prompt the model." Bankston also notes that users need to pay for a $20/month AI Premium subscription to enjoy expanded commitments regarding how their personal data will be protected. This isn't the first time that Google's AI products have suffered data leaks. In September 2023, Gemini's precursor, Bard, accidentally revealed user chat sessions in public search results. Google has even warned its own employees about entering sensitive data into its chatbots to prevent unintentional leaks. The company was also sued last July over allegations that its scraping of the public internet for AI training data violated their privacy and property rights. Eventually, Bankston was able to troubleshoot the issue and identify the root issue. "It seems that if you've ever clicked the Gemini button for a type of document then it remains open whenever you open another of that type-and therefore automatically ingests and summarizes it," he wrote. So, because he summarized a different PDF using Gemini during the chat, the system appears to have granted itself access to all PDFs opened throughout the session. "Same with GDocs-it wasn't on in any of my Docs," he also noted, "then I turned it on in one, and now it auto-summarizes any I open." Regardless of the reasons behind the glitch, this sort of behavior from the AI system has significant privacy implications for users. As Bankston argues, "how many people have unwittingly inputted how many more private docs into Gemini simply because they clicked on that little AI star once in one document?" While the access to additional documents on which to refine its responses would help improve performance, doing so without transparency and the permission of the content owners will only further erode the public's already slim trust in AI.

Google Gemini may be peeking into people's files, even when told not to

Key Takeaways Google Gemini may be scanning files without permission, causing privacy concerns among users. Kevin Bankston discovered Gemini summarizing his tax return after opening a PDF file. Some users worry that Google's productivity services are used to train its AI, despite useful intent. When AI assistants appear in productivity suites, people understandably get concerned over what they can and can't read. If you're working on a sensitive and private document, you likely don't want an AI assistant scanning it and beaming all of your data to an external server. Unfortunately, that may have been what happened to one user, who noticed that Google Gemini automatically gave its opinion on a document he had just opened, despite him having never asked it to do so. Related Android 15 'Vanilla Ice Cream': Everything we know about Google's 2024 update Android 15 is the next big upgrade to our favorite mobile OS, and this is everything you need to know so far. Google Gemini may be peeking into files without permission As spotted by Tom's Hardware, this saga begins with a post by Kevin Bankston on X. He states that, after opening a tax return as a PDF file in Google Docs, Gemini suddenly popped up and gave him a summary of his taxes. Kevin claims he never invoked Gemini after opening the PDF file, and he didn't feed it any information himself. He did a little more digging and noticed that it only affected PDFs. He surmised that one time, he opened a PDF and clicked on the Gemini button to see what it did. This "told" Gemini that it was okay to appear every time he opened a PDF. He goes on to explain that he asked Google Gemini how to disable the feature, and it gave him hallucinated instructions on settings that didn't exist. Kevin then finds the actual location of the setting to disable Gemini in Google Docs - only to find that it was already disabled. The replies to Kevin had a mix of angles. Some people lamented that Google's productivity services may now be a hub for its AI training. Others questioned why Kevin was uploading tax returns to Google Docs in the first place. And one commenter asked if the unsolicited help from Gemini was even useful, which Kevin denied. As usual, when someone goes onto social media with claims like this, it's always good to take it with a grain of salt. We can't tell what Kevin did or how his PC was set up, so it may have been human error on his part. However, there is still a chance that Google Gemini may be peeking into our files more than we'd like.

Gemini AI caught scanning Google Drive hosted PDF files without permission -- user complains feature can't be disabled

Kevin Bankston, a Senior Advisor on AI Governance, discusses this concerning Google Gemini behavior. As part of the wider tech industry's wider push for AI, whether we want it or not, it seems that Google's Gemini AI service is now reading private Drive documents without express user permission, per a report from Kevin Bankster on Twitter embedded below. While Bankster goes on to discuss reasons why this may be glitched for users like him in particular, the utter lack of control being given over his sensitive, private information is unacceptable for a company of Google's stature -- and does not bode well for future privacy concerns amongst AI's often-forced rollout. So, what exactly is going on here? Both Google support and the Gemini AI itself do not quite seem to know, but Kevin Bankston has some theories, after providing much more detail in the full thread. Contrary to the initial posting, this is technically happening within the larger umbrella of Google Drive and not Google Docs specifically, though it seems likely the issue could apply to Docs as well. But what caused this issue? According to Google's Gemini AI, the privacy settings used to inform Gemini should be openly available, but they aren't, which means the AI is either "hallucinating (lying)" or some internal systems on Google's servers are outright malfunctioning. Either way, not a great look, even if this private data supposedly isn't used to train the Gemini AI. What's more, Bankston did eventually find the settings toggle in question... only to find that Gemini summaries in Gmail, Drive, and Docs were already disabled. Additionally, it was in an entirely different place than either of the web pages to which Gemini's bot initially pointed. For Bankston, the issue seems localized to Google Drive, and only happens after pressing the Gemini button on at least one document. The matching document type (in this case, PDF) will subsequently automatically trigger Google Gemini for all future files of the same type opened within Google Drive. He additionally theorizes that it may have been caused by him enabling Google Workspace Labs back in 2023, which could be overriding the intended Gemini AI settings. Even if this issue is isolated to Google Workspace Labs users, it's quite a severe downside for having helped Google test its latest and greatest tech. User consent still matters on a granular basis, particularly with potentially sensitive information, and Google has utterly failed at least one segment of its user base by failing to stay true to that principle.

Gemini AI platform caught scanning Google Drive files without user permission

Google's Gemini AI has been caught scanning PDF files hosted on Google Drive without active permission or initiation, sparking yet another discussion around AI safety and privacy concerns. Senior Advisor on AI Governance Kevin Bankson took to X to share concerns over an automatically generated AI summary in a private and confidential tax return. Bankston's thread detailed his experience with Gemini AI reading private documents without consent and the subsequent troubles in disabling the functionality on the cloud storage platform. Despite attempts to disable the feature, Bankston found that Gemini's continued to operate in Google Drive, raising questions about Google's handling of user data and privacy settings. After failing to find the right controls to disable Gemini's integration, the Advisor asked Google's ChatGPT-rivalling AI chatbot on two occasions to pinpoint the settings. A second, more detailed response still brought no joy: "Gemini is *not* in Apps and services on my dashboard (1st option), and I didn't have a profile pic in the upper right of the Gemini page (2nd)." With help from another X user, Bankston found the control, which was already disabled, highlighting either a malfunctioning control or indicating that further settings are hidden elsewhere. TechRadar Pro has asked Google to comment on the case, but the company did not immediately respond. Previous Google documentation has confirmed that the company will not use Google Workspace data to train or improve its generative AI services or to feed targeted ads, however there are still some concerns about data hygiene and cross-contamination that could ultimately lead to leaked data. Bankston theorizes that his previous participation in Google Workspace Labs might have influenced Gemini's behavior, but his concern about hidden settings and controls remains a topic that Google must address in order to satisfy worried users. Moreover, the case reaffirms the importance of consent and user control as AI continues to advance and becomes more deeply ingrained in the products we use every day.

Google Gemini could be accessing files it doesn't have permission to - Phandroid

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.

Google's Gemini AI found to be silently scanning PDF files hosted in Google Drive -- users complain they can't disable the feature - ExBulletin

As the push for AI grows across the tech industry, whether we like it or not, it appears that Google's Gemini AI service is reading private Drive documents without users' explicit permission. This was reported by Kevin Bankster on Twitter, embedded below. Bankster further discusses why this is a problem, especially for users like him, but being given absolutely no control over his sensitive and private information is unacceptable for a large company like Google. It's also unlikely to raise privacy concerns in the future as the forced adoption of AI becomes more common. @I opened my tax return in Google Docs and Gemini just summarized it for me. Does that mean Gemini is automatically pulling in private documents I open in Google Docs too? What the hell? I didn't ask for this. To turn this crap off I have to find a new setting that I was never told about. July 10, 2024 Neither Google Support nor Gemini AI itself seem to be too clear, but Kevin Bankston provides more details and some theories throughout the thread: Contrary to the original post, this is technically happening in the larger context of Google Drive and not specific to Google Docs, although it seems likely that the issue applies to Docs as well. But what caused this problem? According to Google's Gemini AI, the privacy settings used to feed information to Gemini should be public, but they aren't, so either the AI is "hallucinating (lying)" or some of the internal systems on Google's servers are completely malfunctioning. Either way, even if this private data isn't being used to train the Gemini AI, it's not a good situation. What's more, when Bankston finally found the settings toggle in question, he discovered that Gemini summarization for Gmail, Drive, and Docs had already been disabled -- and the toggle was in an entirely different location than either of the web pages that Gemini's bot had originally pointed him to. According to Bankston, the issue appears to be limited to Google Drive and only occurs after pressing the Gemini button on at least one document. A matching document type (PDF in this case) automatically launches Google Gemini for all files of that type opened in Google Drive thereafter. Bankston further speculates that enabling Google Workspace Labs in 2023 may have overridden the intended Gemini AI settings. Even if this issue was limited to Google Workspace Labs users, it's a very significant drawback to helping Google test its latest and greatest technology. User consent still matters at a granular level, especially when it comes to potentially sensitive information, and Google has thoroughly disappointed at least one segment of its user base by failing to uphold that principle. Get the best Tom's Hardware news and in-depth reviews straight to your inbox. What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

Gemini AI platform accused of scanning Google Drive files without user permission - ExBulletin

Google's Gemini AI has been accused of scanning PDF files hosted on Google Drive without active permission or initiation, sparking fresh debate over AI safety and privacy concerns. Kevin Bankson, Senior Advisor for AI Governance, appeared on X to share his concerns about auto-generated AI summaries of private and confidential tax returns. Bankston's thread details the trouble that arose when Gemini AI read personal documents without consent, then disabled the feature on the cloud storage platform. Gemini might be buried in Google Drive more than you think Bankston discovered that Gemini continued to operate within Google Drive despite his attempts to disable the feature, raising questions about how Google handles user data and privacy settings. Unable to find a suitable control to disable Gemini's integration, the advisor asked an AI chatbot comparable to Google's ChatGPT to identify the setting twice, and the second, more detailed response still didn't solve the problem: "I can't find Gemini in my apps and services on my dashboard (first option), and I don't have a profile picture in the top right corner of my Gemini page (second option)." With the help of another X user, Bankston discovered controls that had already been disabled, which could be highlighting the malfunctioning control, or indicating that there are further settings hidden elsewhere. However, previous Google documentation has confirmed that the company won't use Google Workspace data to train or improve its generative AI services or serve targeted ads. Subscribe to the TechRadar Pro newsletter for all the top news, opinions, features and guidance you need to succeed in your business. Bankston speculates that Gemini's previous participation in Google Workspace Labs may have influenced how it works: If users no longer want access to the generated AI summaries, they can close the Gemini side panel in Google Drive for PDFs. While Google is committed to handling user data safely and securely, this case reinforces the importance of consent and user control as AI continues to advance and become more deeply integrated into the products we use every day. A Google spokesperson told TechRadar Pro in an email: "Our generative AI features are designed to give users choice and put them in control of their data. To use Gemini in Google Workspace, users must actively enable it, and once enabled, their content will be used to generate useful responses to prompts while protecting their privacy, but it won't be stored without their permission." More from TechRadar Pro What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online