Google's artificial intelligence Gemini snooped through a user's file without permission

Artificial intelligence in the form of computer and smartphone assistant programs raises natural concerns about security. It appears that Google Gemini reads user files, even if it is prohibited.

One user noticed that Gemini expressed its opinion on a document he had just opened, even though the user never asked for it. Kevin Bankston claims that after opening a tax return in PDF format in Google Docs, Gemini suddenly appeared and summarized his tax return. Kevin claims that he did not summon Gemini after opening the PDF file, and personally did not provide any information to it.

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.

— Kevin Bankston (@KevinBankston) July 10, 2024

"Now I have to find settings I was never told about to turn this crap off."

Kevin did some more work and noticed that this only affected PDF files. He assumed that he once opened a PDF file and clicked on Gemini to see what would happen. After that, Gemini "decided" to appear every time the user opened a PDF file.

He then explained that he asked Google Gemini how to disable this feature, and it gave him "glitched" (false) instructions regarding settings that did not exist. Kevin then found the actual location of the setting to disable Gemini in Google Docs, but it was already disabled.

Some commentators on this incident lamented that Google's productivity-enhancing services may have now become a tool for AI training. Others asked why Kevin was even uploading tax returns to Google Docs. One commentator asked if unwanted Gemini assistance was useful and received a negative answer.

It is not known exactly how Kevin Bankston acted and whether his data was correct. However, there is a possibility that Google Gemini is peeking into user files more than desired.

Sources: Tom`s Hardware, XDA