SILENT SWITCH? New Lawsuit Alleges Google Uses Gemini AI to “Secretly” Read Gmail, Chat, and Meet Conversations
A new lawsuit claims Google secretly activated Gemini AI to read users' Gmail, Chat, and Meet communications without consent, violating privacy laws.Summary
A class action lawsuit filed in California alleges that Google enabled its Gemini AI features across Gmail, Chat, and Meet without obtaining user consent, potentially violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). The complaint states Google switched on these “Smart features” by default around October 10, 2025, allowing AI to track private communications. Despite being an “opt-out” setting, the complaint argues the wording still presents it as an “opt-in” feature, rendering privacy settings ineffective. Plaintiff Thomas Thele claims he did not consent to this data collection, and the lawsuit seeks to represent all U.S. Google account holders whose communications were tracked. Google has refuted claims that Gmail content is used to train Gemini AI, but the allegations remain untested. The case is *Thele v. Google, LLC*, No. 5:25-CV-09704 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 11, 2025).
(Source：The National Law Review)