Google sued over Gemini AI spying on users' data
What's the story
Google has been sued for allegedly using its Gemini AI tool to unlawfully monitor private communications of Gmail, Chat, and Meet users. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose) on Tuesday. It claims that the tech giant "secretly" activated Gemini across all its applications in October, enabling it to collect private data without user consent or knowledge.
Data access
AI tool allegedly accesses entire recorded history of private communications
The lawsuit alleges that unless users deactivate Gemini from Google's privacy settings, the AI tool accesses and exploits their entire recorded history of private communications. This includes every email and attachment sent or received in their Gmail accounts. The suit also claims that this practice violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act, a 1967 law prohibiting surreptitious wiretapping and recording of confidential communications without consent from all parties involved.
Awaiting response
Case titled Thele v. Google LLC
As of now, Google has not responded to the lawsuit. The case is titled Thele v. Google LLC, 25-cv-09704, US District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose). This legal action may highlight broader concerns over user privacy and data security, especially as AI tools are increasingly integrated into everyday digital communication platforms.