[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] [ PFIR ] Gemini AI may already be enabled by default in your Gmail -- Google says it will share with law enforcement, etc. I DO NOT TRUST GOOGLE.

OLGA P GUTTAG opg1000 at rcn.com
Mon Jan 19 09:18:31 PST 2026 

Bob,

Agree with what you say. 

As you may have gathered from my anxiety over how current AI is being used (the LHS Chatbot, Gemini, etc.) I am trying to get people’s opinions and ideas on how we can better protect ourselves from negative “side effects” of AI deployed in our digital lives.  I rely on ChatGPT and other AI apps for many tasks, but I want to be in charge of AI deployment, not have an app determine my AI use, nor use my work products to train their AI apps..

Being a news junkie, I mostly see how AI is misused in politics, thus my examples from that arena. We each have the opportunity to engage or tune out some of the AI being pushed. Alas, like with all tech, turning off AI in our digital environment takes time and is often difficult to figure out how to do. 

A lesson I learned few years back is to read ALL of the permissions/contracts that come with use of assorted apps/software. FB, in particular, makes frequent changes to privacy settings that I don’t like. The contracts alert me what to look for. 

I now know how to deal with Gemini. Are there other apps where I should consider disabling AI? Is so, do you know how to do it?

Thanks for any additional thought you may have,
Olga

> On Jan 19, 2026, at 11:37 AM, Robert Primak <bobprimak at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> No. Google has never said they would not comply with legitimate requests from law enforcement. And they have always reported any serious threats to other users or to the public to law enforcement. This new policy is really nothing new in that regard. 
> 
> Does anyone in this thread have any hard evidence that Google is doing anything improper with user data? If not, maybe we should not tempt Google to initiate legal actions against us for saying things we cannot support.
> 
> I thought LCTG was supposed to be a non-political technology user group.
> 
> -- Bob Primak
> 
> 
> On Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 11:07:38 AM EST, OLGA P GUTTAG via LCTG <lctg at lists.toku.us> wrote:
> 
> 
> Though Google had our info since we started using their products, their stated policy was to protect any information they had about us from outsiders, including the govt. Now, as they happily cooperate with the current administration, if Trump decides to, say, deport all Chinese-Americans and needs to find some reason, getting all email/docs for these people from Google is pretty much guaranteed. 
> 
> So what is different now is Google’s change in how they protect our info.
> 
> Olga
> 
>> On Jan 17, 2026, at 10:39 AM, Adam Broun <abroun at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
> 
> Google has always had access to Gmail, Docs etc in order to sell advertising.  And they’ve always been good at searching/indexing it.  So what's different now?
> 
> 
> 
>> On Jan 17, 2026, at 09:47, Stan Rose via LCTG <lctg at lists.toku.us> wrote:
>> 
>> If it's Gemini you want to avoid, then you will have to stop using SIRI because Apple has announced they will partner will Google to use Gemini in Siri.
>> 
>> https://www.macrumors.com/2026/01/13/google-gemini-siri-capabilities-report/
>> 
>> 
>> Stan
>> stan_rose at alum.mit.edu <mailto:stan_rose at alum.mit.edu>
>> 
>> 
>> On Fri, Jan 16, 2026 at 11:13 PM OLGA P GUTTAG via LCTG <lctg at lists.toku.us <mailto:lctg at lists.toku.us>> wrote:
>> Lauren has also advised users to stay away from Google docs, since that is the next place they will start pushing Gemini. Sounds like moving everything away from Google is in my near future - SIGH.
>> 
>> Olga
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> > On Jan 16, 2026, at 10:26 PM, Drew King 65 via LCTG <lctg at lists.toku.us <mailto:lctg at lists.toku.us>> wrote:
>> > 
>> > I read about this last week. I've already gone into Gmail and turned everything off but thanks for telling everybody. I was going to send out a link that had instructions but your instructions are correct. 
>> > 
>> > I'm in the process of getting off gmail. I already have a new posting company for my email I just need to move the last month's worth of mail over to my new hosting company and update my DNS I plan on getting this done before the end of the month. 
>> > 
>> > Bye bye Gmail for me. 
>> > 
>> > I'm also moving towards encrypting all of my inbound mail on the mail server so even the new hosting company and Google can't read my mail . 
>> > 
>> > As far as Gemini is concerned I limit my use of it to questions regarding Google products mostly android. 
>> > 
>> > 
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