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ZDNET's key takeaways
- Internal AI access can create compliance and privacy risks.
- Workspace admins can turn off intelligence sources.
- Google gives Gemini access to Workspace data by default.
I have long accepted one fundamental truth: Google knows everything that I do. I've been using Gmail as my primary life dashboard for over a decade now. Apart from the occasional ad in my Gmail interface, Google really hasn't abused my trust. But still, Gmail sees all. Gmail knows all.
Every email message I have sent or received since before Hamilton opened on Broadway has been processed through Google's voracious data maw.
Also: Google is training AI on even more of your data now, unless you opt out – here's how
So, when it comes to the Gemini chatbot, I haven't been too upset that Google's AI seems to know what's in my email or my Google Docs. In fact, that capability helped me out at one point. I actually want Google's AI to do more, but the tech has a limited number of messages it can process. The AI crashed and burned on a more complex research task.
But not everyone wants Google to access everything in Gmail, Docs, Calendar, and Chat, particularly professionals who use the commercial Google Workspace service.
And yet, did you know that Google defaults to allowing Gemini access to all Workspace services? In this article, I'll show you how that process works. Then, I'll show you how to turn it off for your company.
What is this dark magic?
The good news is that while Google does automatically expose your company's Workspace data to Gemini, the tech giant doesn't use it for training or even use it outside your company's domain. Nor does Google share prompts or generated responses with other users or other organizations. It also doesn't create an AI-specific database from your documents and email messages.
Also: How to avoid Claude watermarking your content
This fact converts concerns…