Google’s GenAI app Gemini saves all of your conversations

Avoid entering anything into Gemini, Google’s suite of GenAI applications, that could incriminate you or that you wouldn’t want others to view. Apparently, this is a public service announcement from Google, as outlined in a new support document detailing how it gathers data from users of its Gemini chatbot apps across the web, Android, and iOS platforms.

Google states that human annotators regularly read, label, and handle conversations with Gemini to enhance the service, even if these conversations are not linked to Google Accounts. The retention period for these conversations, along with associated data such as languages used, devices, and location, is up to three years. It is unclear whether these annotators are employed by Google or outsourced, which could be relevant in terms of data security, as Google does not provide this information.

Google now allows users to manage which Gemini-related data is kept and how it is handled. By disabling Gemini Apps Activity in Google’s My Activity dashboard (which is enabled by default), users can prevent future conversations with Gemini from being stored in a Google Account for review, thus avoiding the three-year retention period. Additionally, users can delete individual prompts and conversations with Gemini directly from the Gemini Apps Activity screen.

Even if Gemini Apps Activity is turned off, Google mentions that Gemini conversations will still be stored in a Google Account for up to 72 hours for the purpose of safeguarding and enhancing Gemini apps.

Google advises against sharing confidential information or data in conversations that users wouldn’t want a reviewer or Google to use for improving their products, services, and machine learning technologies.