(Credit: René Ramos; sommai / Adobe Stock)
Google's Gemini integrates very closely with just about every Workspace app, including Gmail. When I tested the AI chatbot, I expected options to rephrase an email to sound more professional or summarize long threads. What I got instead was a first-hand lesson in how invasive Gemini can be once it has access to 16 years' worth of emails.
What’s more concerning is that signing up for Google’s AI Pro plan automatically unlocks Gemini’s Gmail integration—without an explanation of what it does or the choice to opt out. So you should think twice about signing up for Gemini with your main Google account. If you do want Gemini in Gmail or are curious about how invasive it gets, here’s what you can expect.
How Does Gemini Know That?
Clicking the Gemini icon in Gmail opens up a sidebar where you can talk to Gemini about your email. In testing, it was able to tell me useful information, such as when my next Trade coffee delivery would arrive and if I had any pressing emails that required responses. But it goes far beyond that.
When I asked it about my first crush, Gemini was able to determine that it occurred in elementary school, as well as tell me the name of my first love, how we met, and when we met. Upon request, Gemini also told me who my top Facebook friends were in 2009 and who my best friend was in 2010. Gemini even explained that one of my character flaws is that I get "too laser-focused on what [I] want, which extracts a toll on [my] relationships, much like Drake from the Uncharted game." And, yes, that’s one of my favorite game franchises, which apparently Gemini knows, too.
(Credit: Google/PCMag)How does Gemini know that? The simple answer is that the information is somewhere within the 16 years' worth of my email history it can access. Why does Gemini sometimes end its messages with “Cheers, Ruben” as if it’s me? Gemini can write emails for me in my unique style with its new Smart Reply feature, but why does it adopt my style when I talk to it?
That may be a simple bug, but I also find the possibilities of Smart Reply worrying, given my previous experiences: What if Gemini includes deeply personal information in an email, and I accidentally send it out? My main takeaway is that I find all of this intensely unsettling.
Can You Trust Google to Protect Your Privacy?
What does Google do with information about my love life and character flaws? Its privacy policy is fairly clear: Google collects a variety of information when you use Gemini, which includes your entire chat history. The company uses this information to improve its products and train its large language models. However, Google doesn't use Gemini data from Google Workspace apps, like Gmail, for training, ad targeting, or selling. I appreciate the guarantee, but I don’t fully trust Google.
Just in 2025, Google agreed to pay out $1.375 billion for collecting Texans’ biometric data without consent, and a state-sponsored group exploited a flaw in Google Chrome to spy on Russian users. In 2024, Google came under fire for ‘misleading and aggressive’ data practices. Google’s historical track record isn’t any better, as evidenced by the Google+ leak of user information in 2018 and the Gmail password leak in 2014.
Gemini or no Gemini, my data is on Google’s servers, so I am susceptible to all manner of hacks and leaks. However, Gemini in my email means that a bad actor might not just get access to my account or information but also to a convenient tool they can use to ask directly about pretty much any major event in my life for the better part of two decades.
Should You Give Gemini Access to Your Email?
This question doesn’t have a simple answer, and a lot of it depends on your views on online privacy. I don’t like Gemini in my personal email or in my personal Google Drive files (which is another integration that happens automatically when you sign up for the premium Gemini subscription), but I'm much more open to Gemini in a professional capacity.
As someone who makes his living largely working from home on the internet, I’m used to using accounts and devices that aren’t entirely mine. I don’t get nearly as creeped out knowing Gemini can analyze my work interactions with PR representatives or see my meeting history. I'm open to hearing about, say, how the way I schedule meetings reflects poorly on my character.
Whether you feel comfortable with Gemini in your email or anywhere else is entirely up to you. Just make sure you know what’s in your data and that you’re comfortable with a chatbot that can learn intimate facts about you before you decide to give it access to your email. As for me, it's all too creepy. I don't plan on letting Gemini access my personal email anymore.
Google doesn't make it clear how to turn Gemini off in Gmail, but it's possible. Go to Gmail's settings, and click the "Manage Workplace smart feature settings" button. Here, you can toggle smart features (including Gemini) in Google Workplace off. If you click on the Gemini button going forward, it simply prompts you to turn smart features back on.