A privacy warning from Google has indicated an element of risk if users disclose personal information when using artificial intelligence (AI) apps.
The Alphabet Inc company has confirmed the rebranding of Bard as Gemini, which will become the flagship AI assistant on Android devices. The program will bring advances and greater cohesion between different services on smartphones but it also appears to come at a cost.
As reported by ZD Net, tucked away in the small print of information held in the Gemini Apps Privacy Hub, there is a stated warning that Google collects conversations, location, feedback, and usage information when Gemini is engaged.
Gemini privacy warning
The purpose for gathering this information is stated vaguely, but it could make users consider who has access to their conversations with the Gemini tool and why.
Google states “We take your privacy seriously, and we do not sell your personal information to anyone. To help Gemini improve while protecting your privacy, we select a subset of conversations and use automated tools to help remove user-identifying information (such as email addresses and phone numbers).”
This part does not appear overly concerning but the warning follows, in the section titled Your Data and Gemini Apps, with the following:
“Please don’t enter confidential information in your conversations or any data you wouldn’t want a reviewer to see or Google to use to improve our products, services, and machine-learning technologies.”
From a privacy perspective, an alarming revelation is made with the confirmation of user data being kept for three years. Gemini conversations perused by human reviewers are retained for this period even if the app activity is deleted because they are kept separately and not linked to a Google account.
The tech giant has been transparent, to an extent, that you should carefully consider what information you are exchanging with Gemini and not provide sensitive personal details that you wouldn’t want the AI tech to retain.
You have been warned.
Image: Google
