If you use Google Geminiyou’ve probably noticed that he wants to learn as much as possible about you, both through conversation and from any personal information you might share. The goal is to better personalize their responses to you. But at what point do you worry? AI chatbot know too much and possibly use this information without your knowledge or permission?
Before you do anything, take a moment to understand what information is collected. The list includes submitted tips, shared files, videos, photos, browser pages, transcripts, notes. Gemini Livenames and special instructions Stonesand any additional instructions you give Gemini to tailor their responses.
Google offers several settings you can adjust to better manage your privacy, though it makes certain changes difficult. Google allows you to delete past conversations and revoke Gemini’s access Google DriveGmail and Google Calendar. You can also use Gemini in temporary mode so that it doesn’t save your conversations. However, the only way to prevent Gemini from eavesdropping on your conversations is to turn off Google history saving for them. If you do this, you will not be able to view or access previous conversations.
Still, there are some solutions that strike a balance between privacy and efficiency when using Gemini. Here are seven ways to protect your privacy on Google’s AI platform.
1. Prevent your chats from being used for Training
Gemini will use your conversations with him to train himself. Although Google promises that your data will be anonymized, you still may not want any sensitive or personal information to be shared this way. Unfortunately, the only way to stop this is to completely prevent Google from storing and using previous conversations. This will remove the conversations from Google date of operation and your own chat history, meaning you won’t see any of your previous chats.
For me, this is a huge drawback, as I often refer to my chat history to see what topics have already been covered. But if you don’t need to see your chat history, sign in Gemini Apps Action page with your Google account. If Keep up the action setting is enabled, press the drop-down button and select Turn it off.
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The next window explains what happens when Gemini disables its activity. In addition to preventing future conversations from being used for AI training, this action removes those conversations from your Activity feed and chat history. Click to confirm this step I understood button. When you return to the main Gemini screen, you will see that your previous conversations are gone.
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2. Delete Past Chats from Google History
Because I want to access many of my previous conversations, I usually don’t disable them from Google. Instead, I will selectively delete some conversations that I no longer need. Google allows you to delete specific conversations, those from a certain period or all at once.
Deleting conversations this way removes them from Google’s activity history and your chat history. But at least it gives you control over which conversations you want to delete and which to keep. On the Gemini Apps Activity page, I’ll remove certain conversations that I consider more sensitive or private and that I don’t want Google to keep in either their activity or my history.
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Click the X next to any individual chat you want to delete. Click to delete all chats or only those from a certain period of time Delete A drop-down button near the top of the action page. You can then choose to delete activity for the last hour, last day, all time, or a custom range.
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Instead of manually deleting conversations, you can also set up an automatic deletion option. At the top of the action page is a setting called Select the automatic deletion option if the option is currently disabled or Deleting older activity… If the option is currently active, after a certain period of time. Click the right arrow next to that setting and select it Automatically delete older activity than this from the drop-down menu and select a specific term—3 months, 18 months, or 36 months. click Next > Confirm it > It’s over. Select if you don’t want your chat history to be deleted automatically Do not automatically delete the activity instead of.
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3. Prevent Gemini from Recording Your Live Voice Chats
Gemini Live lets you chat with Google’s AI with voice. But here’s another area where a company can use your conversations for AI training. By default, Google captures audio recordings of your conversations and any screenshots shared during a live chat. Some notes are even sent (anonymously) to human reviewers. Thankfully, you can easily turn this option off.
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On the Gemini Apps Activity page, look at the top of the screen for a setting called Enhance Google services with audio and Gemini Live recordings. If it is checked, click the box to uncheck it. Read the information displayed in the pop-up window. Click on it if you like it Turn it off press the button to complete your action.
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4. Cut off the twins’ access to Google Drive, Gmail and Google Calendar
Gemini can access your files and other content from certain connected apps, including Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Calendar. Part of Gemini Personal intelligence skill, which allows you to perform AI-related tasks and actions on your data. For example, you can tell Gemini to summarize a specific file stored in Google Drive or to create a reply to a specific email in Gmail. If you don’t want twins to access your files, you can easily turn this off.
Click on it on the main screen Settings and help > Personal Intelligence > Connected Appsand then disable the input Google Workspace (Gmail, Google Docs, Google Keep, Google Calendar, Google Drive and Google Tasks), Google PhotosGoogle Search, YouTube and YouTube Music. For any apps and services you don’t need to use with Gemini, turn off the switch and then select Disconnect.
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5. Turn Off Personal Intelligence’s Memory Feature
Another aspect of Gemini Individual Intelligence is Memory. When you turn it on, Gemini remembers your past conversations and learns from them to better understand your interests, preferences, and other personal information. The goal here is to help the AI tailor its responses to you, but you may not want it to. This is an opt-in feature, so it should already be disabled. Click to check Settings and help > Personal intelligencethen check if Memory switch is activated. If so, you can simply turn it off.
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6. Use Gemini in temporary mode
Another way to protect your privacy with Gemini is to use it in temporary mode. You can easily start a new temporary chat to discuss a personal or sensitive topic; it won’t appear in your chat history or Google Activity page, and it won’t be used to train Gemini or personalize your experience. you can set one up by clicking on it Temporary chat button next to New conversation in the left sidebar. Gemini explains how temporary chat works. Write and submit your request knowing that the conversation will remain private. Temporary chats are only stored for 72 hours.
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About our specialist
Lance Whitney
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Experience
I’ve been working for PCMag since early 2016, writing consumer tech tutorials, articles, and other articles. In addition to PCMag, I’ve written news stories and tutorials for various other websites and publications, including CNET, ZDNet, TechRepublic, Macworld, PC World, Time, US News & World Report, and AARP Magazine. I spent seven years writing breaking news for CNET as one of the site’s East Coast correspondents. I have also written two books for Wiley & Sons—Windows 8: Five minutes at a time and Educate yourself on LinkedIn visually.
I have used Windows, Office and other Microsoft products for years, so I know this world well. I also know Mac well. I always work with iOS, iPadOS, watchOS and Android on my various mobile devices. I write a lot about AI these days, so this has become another major area for me.
My wife always jokes about all the tech stuff we have in our house, but I manage to make good use of it for my articles. I like Lenovo computers, so I have several Lenovo desktops and several laptops. I have three MacBooks and one Mac mini. I use iPhone 16 Pro, iPad Pro and iPad mini as well as Apple Watch for my mobile life and work. But since I write about Android, I own several Android phones and tablets. Like any technologist, I have a cabinet full of cables, wires and various mysterious devices. And when it’s time to take a break from writing, I have an old Xbox 360 and a Nintendo Wii, both of which I use for sports and fitness games.
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