Does Gemini read your emails? Gmail’s VP breaks down how new security update works

In start of April, Google rolled out AI Inbox in Gmail, bringing advanced capabilities across tools used by over 2 billion people. However, the feature raised a wave of concerns about how Google’s AI tools are using users’ data. Therefore, Google has released a massive security upgrade across its ecosystem to protect its users’ data. 

The company has outlined a set of “privacy-first” features designed to protect personal data from its generative models.

Gmail’s Vice President of Product, Blake Barnes, recently shared a YouTube Shorts video highlighting how Gemini on the email platform works, while keeping the users’ data safe. In the video, Blake says, “There’s a lot going on in AI these days.”  

“Sometimes it might even feel overwhelming,” he added. But this progress comes with a catch. He states that having a cloud-based AI tool that can compose, reply, or smart search. This gives the AI an immense amount of users’ private, sensitive, and confidential data. 

“It’s kind of like inviting Gemini into a private room with your inbox there.” However, with the new update, Google does not use the data to train its foundational models, or Gemini.

Therefore, when users are with AI, “Gemini leaves the room, and with it, all information about your inbox evaporates. It dissolves. Gemini doesn’t learn your secrets,” Barnes added. Gemini only looks at your emails when you ask it for help. Once it finishes the task, it forgets what it saw and doesn’t keep any of your information.

What you need to do for additional security

For decades, we have been relying on passwords to keep our data, private information, and communications private. But are they really safe? Hackers have found new strategies to breach artificial security barriers, even for companies like Google.

Hackers have now started to use malicious ways to use AI to fight artificial security barriers, launching scams that can bypass traditional two-factor authentication (2FA) with surgical precision. Therefore, user must add additional security layers to protect their data. Here’s what Gmail users can do

Activate Passkeys: Go to your Google Account Security settings and register your primary smartphone as your passkey.

Audit recovery methods: Remove old recovery emails or phone numbers you no longer use.