Google faces lawsuit for allegedly using Gemini AI tool to monitor users’ activities.

Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., is currently facing a legal challenge over allegations regarding its Gemini AI assistant. A recent lawsuit claims that the tech giant unlawfully tracked the private communications of users across its Gmail, Chat, and Meet platforms.

The complaint, filed on Tuesday in federal court in San Jose, California, asserts that Google enabled its Gemini AI features without user consent. Historically, users had the ability to opt into Google’s AI capabilities. However, as of October, it is alleged that Gemini was activated for all users in these applications without their explicit knowledge, allowing the AI to gather personal data without consent.

The implications of this alleged action are significant. The lawsuit suggests that unless users actively navigate the complex privacy settings to disable the Gemini AI tool, Google has been exploiting their entire history of private communications. This includes comprehensive access to all emails, attachments, and conversations in Gmail accounts.

The legal document argues that Google’s conduct violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act, a statute enacted in 1967 that protects individuals from unauthorized wiretapping and eavesdropping on confidential communications. This law mandates that all parties involved in a conversation must consent to any form of recording or monitoring.

Enhanced scrutiny is likely to fall upon Google’s privacy practices as the lawsuit progresses. The company’s failure to provide a straightforward mechanism for users to disengage from the Gemini AI has raised concerns regarding transparency and user consent, core principles underpinning data protection legislation.

As of now, Google has not provided a response to the allegations, nor has the company addressed inquiries made outside of business hours.

The case is officially designated as Thele v. Google LLC, 25-cv-09704, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The outcome of this lawsuit may have significant implications not only for Google but also for how technology companies manage user privacy in the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.

As public awareness of data privacy issues grows, this lawsuit could play a pivotal role in shaping future regulatory frameworks and corporate practices around user data protection.