Gmail Users Warned To Opt Out Of New Feature

By Sam StevensonShareNewsweek is a Trust Project member

Gmail users have been warned they should opt out of a new feature on the platform if they do not want their personal data being used "to train AI models."

In a viral post on social media platform X that had been viewed more than six and a half million times at the time of writing, Dave Jones, who has almost 74,000 followers, posted screenshots from Gmail's settings and privacy menus and claimed: "IMPORTANT message for everyone using Gmail.

"You have been automatically OPTED IN to allow Gmail to access all your private messages & attachments to train AI models. You have to manually turn off Smart Features in the Setting menu in TWO locations."

Newsweek contacted Google via email for comment.

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Why It Matters

Gmail's latest update from Google has brought artificial intelligence (AI) tools into the inbox, raising new questions about data privacy for millions of users in the United States and worldwide.

The shift to AI-powered features prompts each user to decide between enhanced functionality and more personal data collection, underlining a broader debate about how tech companies leverage user data to improve their products.

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What We Know

Google's new Gmail update introduces a suite of AI-enabled features intended to boost productivity and make email management more intuitive.

These tools include smarter search results tailored to individual usage patterns, predictive text suggestions through "smart compose" and "smart reply," and upgraded spam and phishing detection.

However, enabling these enhancements requires users to allow Google greater access to their behavioral and content data—specifically, the analysis of email content and metadata from their inboxes.

Gmail users can decline the update to prevent additional data collection, though doing so will mean forgoing the new AI tools and potentially making inbox searches less efficient or intuitive.

The choice represents a significant crossroads for Gmail’s approach to privacy versus convenience.

What People Are Saying

Cybersecurity software company MalwareBytes says: "The reason behind this is Google’s push to power new Gmail features with its Gemini AI, helping you write emails faster and manage your inbox more efficiently. To do that, Google is using real email content, including attachments, to train and refine its AI models. Some users are now reporting that these settings are switched on by default instead of asking for explicit opt-in."

Speaking about the lack of transparency about what Big Tech firms do with users' data, Krystyna Sikora, a research analyst for the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund, told PolitiFact: "Unsurprisingly, this lack of transparency can create significant confusion that in turn can lead to fear-mongering and the spread of false information about what is and is not permissible."

Speaking in May near the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, said: "We are in a new phase of the AI platform shift, where decades of research are now becoming reality for people all over the world."

What Happens Next

Those who wish to opt out can do so by adjusting their settings. The implications extend beyond Gmail, with similar technological shifts likely to affect other services across the digital landscape.

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