Alleged news has circulated in recent days regarding the introduction starting from October 10th by Google of a new function on Gmail, called AI Enhanced Classification and Review, which would have allowed the Gemini-based artificial intelligence to automatically analyze the contents of our emails without explicit user authorization. Naturally the news raised some concern regarding the violation of privacy, but it was always fake news. Not only are there no official communications from the Cupertino giant regarding this alleged AI functionality: Google has released a press note in which it officially denies this news.
The “kernel of truth” lies in the fact that Google actually offers optional smart functions that can access the contents of the email to understand context and intentions. If you prefer to maintain the highest level of confidentiality you can deactivate these optional functions. Google states that Gmail content is not used for targeted advertising or sold to third parties, but gives users the option to limit any processing, so no one is stopping you from preventing Gmail’s AI from reading your messages by deactivating the options just mentioned.
In some regions – such as the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Japan – these features are disabled by default, in line with local data protection regulations. If you are in one of the areas just mentioned, theoretically you do not have to do anything, unless you have enabled these options yourself, even inadvertently.
What are Gmail Smart Features
Smart Features are a set of Google Gemini AI-powered tools that simplify everyday tasks: for example, automatically adding a flight received via email to your calendar, saving tickets in Google Wallet, or tracking an incoming package through a summary card in Gmail. All this happens thanks to automatic processes that read structured information in emails, such as dates or booking numbers. If you deactivate these functions, Gmail will no longer be able to carry out these operations proactively and will continue to function normally for sending and receiving messages, exactly as it happened before the “AI era” into which we find ourselves catapulted today.
As regards privacy, Google specifies that the data you enter into Workspace – therefore e-mails, documents, etc. – they are not sold to third parties. In this information page, in fact, Google is keen to specify the following:
Interactions with Workspace intelligent features, such as accepting or rejecting spelling suggestions or reporting spam, are anonymized and/or aggregated and may be used to improve or develop useful Workspace features such as spam protection, spell checking, and autocomplete.
How to disable Gmail’s AI features
If you want to disable Gmail’s AI features, here’s how to proceed from your computer.
- Log in to Gmail and click on the gear icon at the top right and click on View all settings.
- Select the General tab and scroll down the menu to the Smart Features section.
- Deactivate the Smart Write, Smart Reply, Shipment Tracking, Reminders and Smart Features options by clicking the appropriate options and following the instructions provided on the screen.
If you prefer to proceed via the Gmail app that you have installed on your smartphone/tablet, do this another way:
- Open the Gmail app, tap the ≡ button and tap Settings.
- Scroll to the General section and uncheck Smart Features (depending on your device you may need to tap Data Privacy first).
- Press Finish (if required).
