No, Gemini is not making a 'concerning' privacy change to read your texts – it's actually getting better

An email Google sent out to Gemini users is being misunderstood by some, and greatly misconstrued by several publications. Here is what’s actually happening.

Yesterday, Google emailed users about how it will be “easier for Gemini to interact with your device.” 

Specifically, you will be able to use the Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, and Utilities extensions (more on what each does below) even if you have “Gemini Apps Activity” disabled. 

Gemini Apps Activity is a setting that determines whether prompts you send to Google are saved and appear in an activity log: myactivity.google.com/product/gemini. The Gemini app prominently links to that page in the profile menu on mobile and in the web side panel.

If that preference is on, Google will use that data to “provide, improve, develop, and personalize Google products and services and machine-learning technologies.” Additionally, human reviewers can “read, annotate, and process” that data. 

Note: Even if that setting is off, Gemini will save conversations “for up to 72 hours.” This is needed to “provide the service, maintain its safety and security, and process any feedback you choose to provide.” However, your prompts will not appear in the activity log. 

Previously, if you disabled Gemini Apps Activity, you could not use the @Phone, @Messages, @WhatsApp, and Utilities extensions to perform basic smart assistant features at all.

• Phone: Call contacts, phone numbers, businesses, organizations
• Messages: Send texts/chats
• WhatsApp
• Utilities: Open apps, set timers/alarms, control phone settings, media playback, check and reply to messages, and more

That is now changing, with those four basic integrations available to Gemini users that don’t want their prompts logged and kept for over 72 hours. This new ability, which starts rolling out July 7, comes as Gemini is set to replace Google Assistant later this year.

Those four extensions are optional and can be disabled (as stated in the email). In the Gemini app on Android, tap your profile avatar in the top-right corner and open “Apps.” Here, you get a list of extensions that can be manually turned on/off.