What does it collect?

Account details, prompts, file uploads, generated outputs, location, device metrics, cookies, your IP address [/what-is-my-ip-address], and connected data from Gmail, Google Drive [/blog/is-google-drive-secure], Google Calendar, YouTube, Google Maps, and Google Chrome.

How is data encrypted?

Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, but Gemini is not zero-access encrypted [/learn/encryption/types-of-encryption/zero-access]. Workspace customers get additional admin, compliance, and data-region controls.

How long is data kept?

Consumer Gemini activity is saved for 18 months by default, adjustable to 3 or 36 months. Human-reviewed data can be kept for up to three years.

Does it support compliance with GDPR and CCPA?

For consumers, Gemini offers limited support for GDPR and CCPA compliance because you have less control over human review, retention, and how your data is used. Enterprise versions, such as Gemini for Workspace, provide stronger contractual safeguards and data-handling controls that are better suited to supporting compliance.

Does it read your chats?

Yes. Google may process chats with automated systems, and some consumer chats may be reviewed by trained human reviewers. Google Workspace data is excluded from human review by default.

Can you choose where your data is stored?

Not on personal accounts. Some Workspace customers can choose regional controls, depending on their plan and settings.

Is your data used to train AI?

Yes, on personal accounts when Gemini Apps Activity is on (enabled by default). Workspace Business, Enterprise, Education, and paid API data are excluded by default.

Is your data subject to US surveillance?

Yes. As with any other US company, Google can be compelled to disclose user data through US legal and national security processes, sometimes without a warrant. [/blog/us-warrantless-surveillance]

What privacy controls does it offer?

You can turn off Gemini Apps Activity, change the default data retention duration, use Temporary Chats, delete your activity, disable connected apps, export data, or delete your account.

Who else sees your data?

Google staff, service providers, human reviewers, Google Workspace admins, connected apps, and legal or government authorities when required.

Does it show ads or sell your data?

Google says Gemini chats are not currently used to show ads and that it does not sell personal data [/blog/personal-data]. Other Google activity may still affect ads.

Can governments see my Gemini data?

Governments cannot simply log in and read your Gemini chats, but they can request or compel Google to disclose user information through legal processes. Because Google is a US company, Gemini data may also be exposed to US legal demands, even if you live outside the United States.

Can I completely delete my data from Gemini?

You can delete Gemini Apps Activity, individual chats, and your wider Google Account. However, deletion has limits. Chats reviewed by human reviewers can be kept separately for up to three years, and some records may be retained longer for legal, security, or abuse-prevention reasons.

Is Temporary Chat private?

Temporary Chat gives you more privacy than standard Gemini chats because it is not saved to your main Gemini activity history. However, it is not completely private. Google still processes the conversation to generate a response and may retain data temporarily for safety, security, feedback, or service operation.

Can Gemini access my Gmail, Drive, or other Google apps?

Yes, if connected apps are enabled. Gemini can use data from Google services such as Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Maps, YouTube, and other connected apps to complete your requests. You can manage or disable connected apps in Gemini settings.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) > Gemini privacy policy

Gemini privacy policy explained: What happens to your data?

Gemini is built into Google products people use every day, from Google Search and Android to Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Workspace. Before you use it, you should know that Gemini collects a substantial amount of confidential information and may process it in ways you wouldn't expect or agree with. Here’s what Gemini’s privacy policy allows Google to do with your data.

Gemini privacy policy at a glance

This analysis is based on official sources including the Gemini Apps Privacy Notice, Google Privacy Policy, Gemini Apps Activity documentation, Google Workspace Gemini privacy commitments, Google Workspace security documentation, Google advertising privacy documentation, and Google data residency controls.

What does it collect?: Account details, prompts, file uploads, generated outputs, location, device metrics, cookies, your IP address, and connected data from Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, YouTube, Google Maps, and Google Chrome.
How is data encrypted?: Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, but Gemini is not zero-access encrypted. Workspace customers get additional admin, compliance, and data-region controls.
How long is data kept?: Consumer Gemini activity is saved for 18 months by default, adjustable to 3 or 36 months. Human-reviewed data can be kept for up to three years.
Does it support compliance with GDPR and CCPA?: For consumers, Gemini offers limited support for GDPR and CCPA compliance because you have less control over human review, retention, and how your data is used. Enterprise versions, such as Gemini for Workspace, provide stronger contractual safeguards and data-handling controls that are better suited to supporting compliance.
Does it read your chats?: Yes. Google may process chats with automated systems, and some consumer chats may be reviewed by trained human reviewers. Google Workspace data is excluded from human review by default.
Can you choose where your data is stored?: Not on personal accounts. Some Workspace customers can choose regional controls, depending on their plan and settings.
Is your data used to train AI?: Yes, on personal accounts when Gemini Apps Activity is on (enabled by default). Workspace Business, Enterprise, Education, and paid API data are excluded by default.
Is your data subject to US surveillance?: Yes. As with any other US company, Google can be compelled to disclose user data through US legal and national security processes, sometimes without a warrant.
What privacy controls does it offer?: You can turn off Gemini Apps Activity, change the default data retention duration, use Temporary Chats, delete your activity, disable connected apps, export data, or delete your account.
Who else sees your data?: Google staff, service providers, human reviewers, Google Workspace admins, connected apps, and legal or government authorities when required.
Does it show ads or sell your data?: Google says Gemini chats are not currently used to show ads and that it does not sell personal data. Other Google activity may still affect ads.

How Gemini handles your data

Gemini keeps your data to generate responses, connect with Google services, and improve its AI systems. But that can leave an AI paper trail on Google’s servers. Here’s what you should know about it:

Data collected by Gemini

Account information: Name, email, login credentials, profile details, plus payment details and transaction history for paid Google AI plans.

User content: Everything you enter, say, share, or upload, including prompts, files, images, audio, video, screen content, feedback, and generated responses.

Device and usage logs: IP address, approximate location, device type, browser, operating system, timestamps, features used, crash data, and interaction histories.

Connected app data: Information from Google services linked to Gemini, such as Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Photos, Google Keep, Google Tasks, and Google Chrome.

Cookies and tracking technologies: Cookies, pixels, local storage, server logs, and similar tools used for analytics, security, preferences, advertising, and service measurement.

Communication data: Name, contact details, message contents, screenshots, and other information you provide when contacting Google support or submitting feedback.

How long Gemini stores your data

For personal accounts, Gemini Apps Activity is saved for 18 months by default. You can change this to 3 months, 36 months, or turn off Gemini Apps Activity so future chats are not saved to your visible activity history.

However, turning Gemini Apps Activity off doesn’t make chats disappear immediately. Google still keeps conversations for up to 72 hours to provide the service, process feedback, and maintain safety and security.

Deleting Gemini activity also has limits. Chats reviewed by human reviewers are stored separately from your Google Account and can be kept for up to three years, even if you delete the original activity. Some records may also be retained for legal, security, or abuse prevention.

Why Gemini monitors and reviews chats

Depending on your settings, plan, and how you use the service, Google may process, scan, review, analyze, retain, and disclose your content for several reasons, including to:

Provide the service and generate responses
Enforce terms of service and community guidelines
Detect, prevent, or address fraud, abuse, or security vulnerabilities
Troubleshoot technical issues and fix software bugs
Train machine learning models and improve Google products
Comply with applicable law, legal processes, or enforceable government requests
Share data with business partners and service providers

In practice, this means your conversations, connected app details, and uploaded files may be handled in ways that go beyond the immediate answer you receive in a conversation with Gemini.

How Gemini uses your data

AI training and product improvement

By default, Google may use Gemini activity from personal accounts to improve Google services and the AI models that power Gemini. This can include prompts, uploads, generated responses, feedback, and related usage data.

You can turn off Gemini Apps Activity to stop new activity being saved or used to improve Google AI. However, Google keeps chats for up to 72 hours to provide the service, process feedback, and maintain safety and security.

Google Workspace Business, Enterprise, Education, and paid Gemini API data are treated differently. Google says these prompts, uploaded files, and responses are not used to train generative AI models outside the customer’s domain without permission.

Human reviewing

Gemini uses automated systems to process chats, but some conversations can also be reviewed by trained human reviewers, including service-provider reviewers.

Google warns users not to enter confidential information they would not want a reviewer to see. If a chat is selected for human review, it may be stored separately from your Google Account and kept for up to three years, even if you delete the original Gemini activity.

Temporary Chats and turning off Gemini Apps Activity reduce some data use, but Google still processes your prompts and uploads to generate responses, protect the service, and handle safety or legal issues.

Sharing with third parties

Google can share Gemini data with service providers, contractors, affiliates, and other businesses that help operate its services. These may support infrastructure, security, analytics, customer support, payments, communications, and abuse prevention.

Gemini can also share data with connected apps. If you use Gemini with Google services like Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Maps, YouTube, or Google Chrome, those services may process data under Google’s privacy policy, along with any product-specific terms, notices, and settings. If you connect third-party apps, those providers may handle your data under their own privacy policies.

Data may also be shared with administrators for work or school accounts, or with legal and government authorities when required. This means Gemini data can move beyond the chat window, especially when connected apps, Workspace accounts, or legal requests are involved.

Advertising and selling data

Google says it does not sell personal information, and that Gemini Apps chats are not used to show ads. However, Gemini still sits inside Google’s wider data and advertising ecosystem.

Other Google activities, such as Search, YouTube, location signals, cookies, device data, and ad settings, may still influence the ads you see across Google services. Gemini settings do not automatically turn off tracking or personalization elsewhere in your Google Account.

This makes Gemini different from a standalone private AI assistant. Even if Gemini chats are not directly used for ads today, Gemini can still add your data to a broader ecosystem built around personalization, processing, and advertising — which is uniquely connected to your identity via your Google Account.

Content ownership and user rights

Google’s terms of service say that some services allow you to generate original content and that Google will not claim ownership over that content. In other words, using Gemini does not automatically transfer ownership of your prompts or outputs to Google.

However, owning your prompts and outputs does not make them private. Google may still process Gemini data to provide the service, maintain safety, improve products, comply with legal obligations, and enforce its terms.

The wider legal picture around AI content remains unsettled. As with other major AI tools, questions remain around training data, copyright, generated outputs, and how much control users really have once their content has been processed by an AI system.

Gemini’s encryption, compliance, and data residency

Data encryption

Google encrypts Gemini data in transit and at rest, but Gemini is not zero-access encrypted. Google can still technically process prompts, uploads, outputs, and related data to provide the service, maintain safety, prevent abuse, comply with legal obligations, and support human review.

Workspace customers may have additional controls, including data regions, admin policies, audit logs, and client-side encryption for some Workspace content.

Regulatory compliance

Google supports privacy rights under laws like the GDPR and CCPA, including the right to access, export, correct, object to, or request deletion of your personal data.

If you’re in the European Economic Area or Switzerland, Google Ireland Limited is responsible for your data. In most other regions, Google LLC is responsible. Business customers also get stronger compliance support, including independent audits and certifications such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, and HIPAA-related controls.

Gemini data residency

If you have a personal Gemini account, you cannot choose where to store your data. Google may process and store it across its global infrastructure, depending on how the service is operated.

Some Google Workspace customers get more control. Depending on their plan and settings, admins can use data-region policies to store Gemini prompts and responses in regions such as the US or Europe.

However, because Google is an American company, all data handled across its global network remains legally tied to US jurisdictional oversight. Even though the controversial surveillance program known as FISA Section 702 technically reached its expiration date in June 2026, existing secret court orders allow the program to run until at least March 2027. This means US intelligence networks can still legally compel American technology firms to hand over data logs belonging to foreign users without an explicit search warrant and without notifying the account holders — and that can mean Google.

How to reduce Gemini data collection

Step 1

Turn off Gemini Apps Activity

Go to the Gemini web dashboard and click Activity in the bottom-left corner. Now click Turn off in the Keep activity dropdown.

Once disabled, new conversations will no longer be saved to your profile or used to train Google's machine learning models. Google will still hold new chats for up to 72 hours to process requests and monitor for system abuse before dropping them.

Step 2

Use Temporary Chat

Start a new chat and click the Temporary chat icon in the top right corner.

Temporary chats bypass your primary history timeline and are automatically excluded from the datasets used to train public models. They are not completely invisible to Google, however; the platform stores them for up to 72 hours to execute automated security scans and run policy abuse checks.

Step 3

Delete past chat history

Go to the Gemini web dashboard and click Activity in the bottom-left corner. Scroll down to the Delete dropdown menu. Select All time to completely wipe your stored log. You can also pick shorter intervals, such as the last hour or a custom date range.

Deleting activity removes it from view and starts Google’s deletion process. Google says complete deletion from its systems generally takes around two months, while encrypted backups may retain data for up to six months. This does not delete Gemini data already selected for human review, which can be kept separately for up to three years.

Step 4

Disable connected apps

On the desktop dashboard, click the Settings gear icon in the bottom-left corner to bring up the options menu. Click Connected apps from the list. This opens the panel where you can toggle off permissions for individual background integrations like Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Docs), GitHub, and connected media platforms.

Turning these off blocks Gemini from reading, scanning, or pulling content from your personal files and active emails while you are chatting with the AI.

Step 5

Export your Gemini history

Go to Google Takeout, sign into your account, scroll through the checklist to find Gemini, select it, and click Next step. Google will package your complete conversational logs into a compressed format and send a direct download link to your email address.

Generating an archival export only provides a personal copy of your data; it does not clear the records off Google’s live storage systems.

Step 6

Delete your Google account or submit a privacy request

If you want to erase your footprint more thoroughly, you can delete your Google account by visiting your account management page, selecting Data and privacy, and scrolling to Delete your Google Account.

Account deletion triggers a structured database removal cycle across Google services. For region-specific compliance requests, you can submit formal data access or removal demands directly through the official Google Privacy Rights Portal to invoke legal protections granted by the GDPR or CCPA.

Gemini makes privacy optional, not the default

Gemini does have privacy controls, but you must find and turn them on — unless you’re on a business plan. If the way Google handles your AI data doesn’t sit right with you, consider a Gemini alternative that makes privacy the default.

Switch to a private AI assistant

Lumo is designed for people who want an AI assistant that doesn’t treat the collection and reuse of their conversations as a necessary tradeoff just to get the benefits of AI.

Try Lumo now Get Lumo for Business

Frequently asked questions about the Gemini privacy policy

Can governments see my Gemini data?: Governments cannot simply log in and read your Gemini chats, but they can request or compel Google to disclose user information through legal processes. Because Google is a US company, Gemini data may also be exposed to US legal demands, even if you live outside the United States.
Can I completely delete my data from Gemini?: You can delete Gemini Apps Activity, individual chats, and your wider Google Account. However, deletion has limits. Chats reviewed by human reviewers can be kept separately for up to three years, and some records may be retained longer for legal, security, or abuse-prevention reasons.
Is Temporary Chat private?: Temporary Chat gives you more privacy than standard Gemini chats because it is not saved to your main Gemini activity history. However, it is not completely private. Google still processes the conversation to generate a response and may retain data temporarily for safety, security, feedback, or service operation.
Can Gemini access my Gmail, Drive, or other Google apps?: Yes, if connected apps are enabled. Gemini can use data from Google services such as Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Maps, YouTube, and other connected apps to complete your requests. You can manage or disable connected apps in Gemini settings.