Your online data is no longer just used for ads but also for training AI. Google uses publicly available information to train its AI models, including Gemini, raising concerns over whether AI is compatible with data protection laws and contributing to wider European efforts to regulate AI, most notably through the EU AI Act.

In Gmail, Gemini can access inbox content to generate AI overviews (similar to AI overviews in Search), suggest replies, help draft messages, and organize emails. On Android, Gemini connects to Google Workspace apps like Docs by default to pull information from your documents and answer prompts. Sensitive content, like a medical report, displayed in AI-generated replies may be used to train AI models.

People are worried companies are scraping their personal files and data without their consent or outright stealing their copyrighted materials, as highlighted by the FTC(new window). You may begin to wonder whether any of your content is safe, including your writings and other drafts in Google Docs.

Google’s policies say it may collect and use information from Gemini interactions, connected apps, and user feedback to improve its services. Because Gemini is built into Google Docs, content you share with Gemini inside a document, such as text you ask it to summarize, may become eligible for AI training. The same applies when Google Drive is connected to another Google app and you ask Gemini in that app to retrieve or use a Google Doc.

This article explores how Gemini accesses and processes content in Google Docs, when that data may be used for AI training, and how you can limit its access or choose a more private alternative.

How Google Docs uses AI like Gemini

Google Docs has long used machine learning to offer spelling suggestions, voice typing, comment reply suggestions, and even completing documents (this last feature, Smart Compose, is only available for work or school Google accounts). You can enable or turn off these AI features by clicking Tools → Preferences in a Google Doc.

But Gemini represents a much deeper form of integration. Since March 2026, it has been able to draft entire documents using existing files and emails, revise sections, and follow the style or formatting of another document. Since July, it can also generate and edit images, diagrams, and infographics using the surrounding document as context.

On Android, Google’s Gemini app connects by default to Google Workspace, including Google Docs. This allows it to fetch information from your documents to answer questions or generate summaries in conversations, effectively giving Gemini access to your stored content. The classic Google Assistant has been phased out in favor of Gemini, and it will shut down on most phones starting September, which will make deep Gemini integration with Android effectively unavoidable for most people.

Gemini is clearly a big part of Google Docs’ future, which might leave you wondering what this all means for the information in your documents.

What is Google Document AI?

A quick clarification: Google also offers Google Document AI, which is an entirely different type of AI feature that allows users to quickly extract data, summarize it, and automate other tedious tasks that involve processing large amounts of documents and PDFs using artificial intelligence. Google specifically says it doesn’t use customer data to train its Document AI models.

Does Google Docs train AI?

Google Docs is not automatically harvesting every document for AI training, but content you actively expose to Gemini may become eligible for training, depending on your account, permissions, and activity settings:

  • Google’s broad privacy policy says the company uses public information and interactions with tools like Gemini to develop, train, and improve its AI models.
  • Its Gemini Apps Privacy Notice also says that chats, connected-app data, and feedback are collected to provide and improve Google’s services.
  • Google’s Workspace help documentation says it does not use your Workspace data, including Docs, Drive, and Gmail, to train or improve Gemini or its other generative AI models “without permission.”

Google claims your documents and data are secure in Google Docs when using its AI features, stating that it doesn’t share any part of your document externally. On the other hand, Google Docs allows third-party extensions, which have their own privacy policies and may scrape or share your data.

In our detailed overview, you’ll find all you need to know about Google’s privacy settings.

Gemini reads your Google Docs comments by default

Since July 2026, Gemini can read Google Docs comments, summarize threads, identify unresolved issues, draft replies on your behalf, and suggest edits based on reviewer feedback; it does not post comments, send replies, or edit the document without your approval. It’s available on paid Workspace and Google AI plans, and turned on by default where Gemini for Workspace is enabled.

That means Gemini may also process comments left by people outside your organization, including people who do not use Gemini and may not realize or have explicitly consented to their words being scanned and processed by an AI system.

How to turn off Gemini in Google Docs and limit AI scraping

There’s no universal switch that removes every AI feature from Google Docs, so turning off Gemini means combining several settings:

  • In a Google Doc, click Gemini in the top menu → Bottom bar preferences → Turn off. This removes the Gemini bar/chat panel across Docs for your account, though the Refine sparkle icon that appears when you select text can’t be fully removed this way.
  • To turn off the broader smart features that feed Gemini across Docs, Gmail, Drive, and more, go to Gmail → Settings ⚙ → See all settings → General tab → Manage Workspace smart feature settings, then turn off Smart features in Google Workspace and Smart features in other Google products.
How to turn off Google Workspace smart features
  • If your Google Workspace account is managed by an employer or school, your administrator controls whether Gemini is available, through the Admin console. Your personal settings may only partially override that, so contact your admin to disable Gemini for Workspace at the organization level.
  • Avoid setting documents to “Anyone with the link can view or edit” since they will become publicly available, meaning the content could potentially be used by Google and other AI services for AI training if found.
  • If you use third-party extensions in Google Docs, check their permissions and privacy policies; remove any that request unnecessary access or that you no longer use.
  • If you cannot disable Gemini, avoid using it with sensitive information, whether directly in Google Docs or through another connected Google app, such as asking Gemini to retrieve or summarize a document from your Drive.

None of this deletes anything Gemini has already processed, and it doesn’t change Google’s underlying access to your documents. It only stops Gemini’s features from appearing in your interface.

New to AI and privacy? Explore our guide to AI to understand how it works, what it may know about you, and how to use it more privately.

If you want to be completely sure your data is private, the only sure solution is to stop using all Google services. End-to-end encryption is the best way to protect your content from this. Even if your data is stored, it cannot be read or used for training AI without your explicit permission.

Protect your data from AI training with Proton Docs

For a more private alternative, use Proton Docs, our online document editor for professionals. Your documents, file names, and other metadata are protected with end-to-end encryption, which means only you and the people you choose can access them, not even Proton. You can create, edit, share, and collaborate on documents, knowing that your data is not used for model training.

Proton Docs has all the features you expect, enabling you to:

  • See the live cursors of your team members and their edits in real time
  • Gather feedback and share ideas with comments
  • Invite anyone to view or edit your docs
  • Restore older document versions — up to 10 years

Proton Docs is part of Proton Drive, an end-to-end encrypted cloud storage solution for teams.

Get Proton Drive for Business

And if you want the convenience of AI without giving up your privacy, try Lumo, our private AI assistant for teams. Lumo protects your conversations with zero-access encryption and never uses them for AI training, so you can safely work with sensitive information.