Google Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Unlawful Tracking by Gemini AI Assistant
Google has been hit with a lawsuit accusing it of secretly enabling its Gemini AI assistant across Gmail, Chat, and Meet to unlawfully track users’ private communications. The complaint, filed in the US District Court in San Jose, California, claims that Alphabet Inc.’s unit “secretly” activated Gemini in October, allowing it to collect personal data without user knowledge or consent.
According to the proposed class-action suit, while Google offers an option to disable Gemini, users must navigate through complex privacy settings to do so. Until then, Gemini allegedly gains access to “literally every email and attachment sent and received” in Gmail accounts, as well as communications in Google Chat and Meet. The plaintiffs argue that this practice constitutes unauthorized data exploitation under the guise of AI functionality.
The lawsuit, titled Thele v. Google LLC (25-cv-09704), accuses the tech giant of violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act of 1967, which prohibits recording confidential communications without consent from all parties. Google has yet to issue an official response to the allegations.
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