Google tells free Gemini users not to type anything confidential — it's in the terms. Human reviewers read your conversations and keep them for three years, even after you delete them. When Italian journalist Federico Leva asked Google what data it held on him, the response included Gemini conversations he'd deleted months earlier. "Delete" removes it from your screen, not from Google's. In May 2024, Google rolled out AI Overviews to every US search user. Within days, Gemini told people to add glue to pizza (it read an 11-year-old Reddit joke as fact), eat rocks for minerals (it cited The Onion as a source), use gasoline to cook spaghetti faster, and that running with scissors is safe. Screenshots went viral. Google called the errors "generally very rare" while quietly reducing AI Overviews' appearance by 45%. The world's dominant search engine — used by 90% of the planet — replaced reliable links with an AI that can't tell a joke from a fact or satire from science.
What they claim: Enterprise Workspace data is protected.
What we found: Workspace: genuine protection. Free: full training. Two-tier system. Enterprise gets privacy; individuals get surveillance.
What they claim: Gemini provides helpful AI while respecting privacy.
What we found: Collects conversations, location, voice, browsing. Part of PRISM infrastructure. Caught scanning Drive PDFs without permission. Workspace integration accesses documents.
What they claim: Google says it trains Gemini responsibly and respects content creators' rights.
What we found: Google trained Gemini on YouTube transcripts without creator consent — using the content of millions of videos as training data. Creators were not notified, not compensated, and given no opt-out. When confronted, Google pointed to YouTube's Terms of Service, which grant Google broad rights to user-uploaded content. The same company that argues AI training requires licensing when others do it (Google sued AI startups for scraping) trained its own AI on creators' work for free.
What they claim: Auto-delete protects long-term privacy.
What we found: 18-month auto-delete default. But human-reviewed chats: 3 years. 72-hour minimum. Doesn't apply to training data already used.
What they claim: Google describes Gemini integration as an optional AI assistant
What we found: In late 2025, Google enabled Gemini by default for Gmail, Chat, and Meet users in the US — analysing private communications without a separate consent prompt. Google used the existing "Smart Features" toggle as a backdoor, meaning anyone who had previously enabled Smart Compose or Smart Reply was automatically opted into AI analysis of their emails. In Europe, GDPR required explicit opt-in. In the US, it was opt-out. Google also granted Gemini access to sensitive Android apps including WhatsApp and Messages by default.
What they claim: Users control how Gemini data is used.
What we found: Training by default. Human reviewers retain conversations 3 years after deletion. 72-hour minimum even with activity off. 2025: uploaded files/photos for training (default-on). Google warns: don't enter confidential info.
What they claim: Google says AI Overviews provide helpful, high-quality answers synthesized from the web.
What we found: In May 2024, Google's AI Overviews launched to all US users and immediately generated absurd and dangerous answers: telling users to add glue to pizza sauce (sourced from an 11-year-old Reddit joke), recommending eating rocks for minerals (sourced from The Onion), suggesting using gasoline to cook spaghetti faster, and advising that running with scissors is safe. Screenshots went viral. Google said the errors were "generally very rare" but quietly reduced AI Overviews' appearance in search results by 45%.
What they claim: Google says Gemini generates accurate and helpful responses.
What we found: Gemini has repeatedly fabricated quotes attributed to real people. In early 2024, Gemini generated entirely fake quotes attributed to public figures in response to user queries, presenting invented statements as real. Google's AI also generated fabricated academic citations — papers that don't exist, by authors who never wrote them. In February 2024, Gemini's image generator refused to create images of white people, generating historically inaccurate images (racially diverse Nazi soldiers) that became a global controversy. Google paused the feature.