What makes Apple and Google different? One of them at least tries to keep your data private… and the other is Google. In another controversial move, it seems that Gemini is automatically scanning documents without permission. The case in this report is isolated, but it points to a potential issue that people should be worried about.
This is a pretty bad story to read after Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence. Using Apple’s AI, all of the core AI functions happen on-device, but when it needs to, your phone will reach out to GPT-4o. Well, the system will ask for your permission to reach out. So, your request doesn’t touch a data center until you give the phone consent.
So, what’s new? Apple is “the privacy company,” and it’s running circles around every other company in that regard.
Google Gemini could be scanning documents without permission
This is a bit of a confusing story just looking at the details. We got the first report of this from Kevin Bankston, a privacy activist and current Facebook Privacy Policy Director. He made a post on X pointing to Gemini automatically scanning one of his PDF documents.
“Just pulled up my tax return in @Google Docs–and unbidden, Gemini summarized it. So…Gemini is automatically ingesting even the private docs I open in Google Docs? WTF, guys. I didn’t ask for this. Now I have to go find new settings I was never told about to turn this crap off.”
So, not only is Gemini, allegedly, scanning documents, but it’s not shy about scanning sensitive documents like tax returns. That’s a bit scary. Soon after, a Google Spokesperson gave a reply:
“Our generative AI features are designed to give users choice and keep them in control of their data. Using Gemini in Google Workspace requires a user to proactively enable it, and when they do their content is used in a privacy-preserving manner to generate useful responses to their prompts, but is not otherwise stored without permission.”
Confusing story
So, according to Google, you’ll need to enable the settings. When signing up for the Gemini for Workspace Labs program, you have to agree to certain terms of service, but scanning documents is the kind of permission you’d need to enable separately.
Bankston used Gemini to track down the settings to disable this feature, and that’s where things get confusing. Apparently, Gemini suggested several pages, but none of them showed him the right setting. He was chasing down these privacy settings when he shouldn’t have been. Privacy settings for AI tools should be front and center. Why was he suggested different pages for one setting?
Well, he eventually found the settings that would disable the scanning feature, and this is where the story gets even more twisted. The toggle that would let it scan documents in Drive was disabled. So, it seems that disabling the feature doesn’t shield you from document scanning.
Bankston found that, if you open Gemini in one type of document, Gemini will automatically scan other files of the same type. So, if you open Gemini in a PDF, it might automatically scan all PDF files that you open. Which is an odd mechanic, and something that Google should tell us about.
He also wonders if this is because he signed up for the Google Workspace Lab last year. There’s no telling if this has some effect on the permissions Gemini has.
This highlights a pretty big issue
Okay, we don’t need companies doing this now. We don’t need companies being sneaky about permissions, and sending people on wild goose chases tracking down simple toggles. At this point, navigating Google’s services should be pretty intuitive. It should be easy to find simple settings that enable and disable features.
So, question: why the heck does a person need to ask Gemini to find settings for them? Next question: why was Gemini giving him multiple answers to find one setting? Last question: why were NONE of those pages correct? A person shouldn’t need to go through this just to find and disable a setting that would let Google scan documents without telling them. Again, if Apple Intelligence wants to tap a data center, the software will notify you on a time-to-time basis. You know when your data is going to OpenAI.
Meanwhile, Google is scanning documents without telling anyone and hiding settings. Google is the main company talking about developing AI “responsibly.” Well, Google, if you want people to believe that, you need people to trust you, and you’ve been doing a bad job at earning our trust.
The toggle?
Another issue is the fact that the toggles were disabled for Bankston, and Gemini was still scanning the documents. How does one begin to say how screwed up that is? Bankston theorized that it might be because he signed up for the Lab, but that shouldn’t be an issue.
This only makes Google look worse in the scenario. It means that making sure that Gemini doesn’t scan your documents isn’t clear at all. There’s confusion surrounding the issue, and there shouldn’t be. One shouldn’t have to ask why Google’s toggles aren’t working.
Google’s response
Lastly, Google’s response was a bit off. Again, it’s not being clear. The spokesperson said that users’ content “is used in a privacy-preserving manner.” What does that mean? The comment doesn’t go into any details about how it preserves privacy. It doesn’t mention what security measures Google implemented, so for all we know, anything could have happened to it.
The main issue
This highlights one of the biggest issues with AI companies: transparency. Governmental bodies are fighting tooth and nail to get companies to just simply tell us what’s going on. Companies try their hardest to keep everything from the public, and this is the worst thing that should be happening with AI technology.
People are already skeptical of AI technology. We don’t need stories of Gemini scanning documents and not telling the users. Also, we don’t need half-assed responses telling users that it’s preserving their privacy without explaining how. We need the company to do better by just letting us know what’s going on.
2024-07-19 15:09:02