Google is once again stepping deeper into the private spaces of Android phones. This time, its Gemini AI system is preparing to weave itself more tightly into the daily apps people use, whether or not they’ve agreed to it. Starting from July 7, 2025, Gemini will begin working alongside core apps like Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, and various system utilities, regardless of whether a user has turned Gemini’s app activity tracking on or off.
At first glance, this may not sound too different from Google’s usual updates. Yet for many users and privacy advocates, this one feels like another chapter in a familiar story. Over the years, Google has repeatedly positioned itself as both the gateway to convenient digital life and the quiet collector of that life’s details. Time and again, the company has blurred the lines between improving services and expanding surveillance. The search engine years. The Gmail scans. The location history that kept ticking even when paused. Google’s track record shows a habit of designing tools that serve users but also quietly harvest data, often in ways that are only fully understood after headlines force a closer look.
This Gemini update seems to follow that same well-trodden path. Google says Gemini will now help users perform simple tasks like making calls or sending texts without the need to store their conversations in long-term activity logs. Before, using Gemini’s phone and messaging features required that history tracking be switched on, meaning Google could keep those interactions beyond a brief window. Now, the company says those same features will be available even if users have disabled the Gemini Apps Activity setting. Google maintains that chats won’t be saved for more than three days in these cases and won’t be used to train its AI models.
It doesn’t help that the notification email linked users to a privacy hub that offered little practical guidance. Some Android owners have yet to receive the notice at all, adding to the confusion. Google has offered some reassurance, pointing to the ability to turn off these app connections, but the steps to do so aren’t exactly front and center. Even now, many users remain in the dark about what’s changing and how to control it.
Image: DIW-Aigen
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• Study Reveals Gaps in AI Moderation as Youth Slang Outpaces Detection Systems
At first glance, this may not sound too different from Google’s usual updates. Yet for many users and privacy advocates, this one feels like another chapter in a familiar story. Over the years, Google has repeatedly positioned itself as both the gateway to convenient digital life and the quiet collector of that life’s details. Time and again, the company has blurred the lines between improving services and expanding surveillance. The search engine years. The Gmail scans. The location history that kept ticking even when paused. Google’s track record shows a habit of designing tools that serve users but also quietly harvest data, often in ways that are only fully understood after headlines force a closer look.
This Gemini update seems to follow that same well-trodden path. Google says Gemini will now help users perform simple tasks like making calls or sending texts without the need to store their conversations in long-term activity logs. Before, using Gemini’s phone and messaging features required that history tracking be switched on, meaning Google could keep those interactions beyond a brief window. Now, the company says those same features will be available even if users have disabled the Gemini Apps Activity setting. Google maintains that chats won’t be saved for more than three days in these cases and won’t be used to train its AI models.
- Also read: Researchers Flags Major Privacy Gaps in Leading AI Platforms Including Copilot and Gemini
It doesn’t help that the notification email linked users to a privacy hub that offered little practical guidance. Some Android owners have yet to receive the notice at all, adding to the confusion. Google has offered some reassurance, pointing to the ability to turn off these app connections, but the steps to do so aren’t exactly front and center. Even now, many users remain in the dark about what’s changing and how to control it.
- Also read: Deleted ChatGPT Conversations Weren’t Really Deleted — And Now OpenAI Is Pushing for ‘AI Privilege’
Read next:
• Study Reveals Gaps in AI Moderation as Youth Slang Outpaces Detection Systems
