When using Gemini with your Google Workspace account (e.g., your yourname@example.com business account), it’s important to understand how your data is handled and the privacy protections in place.

Key Data Privacy Principles for Gemini in Google Workspace: #

1. Covered by Google Workspace Terms:
   • Your interactions with Gemini and the data processed (such as the content of your emails, documents, spreadsheets, and prompts you enter) are primarily governed by your organisation’s existing Google Workspace agreement, which includes data processing and security terms.
2. Your Content is Not Used to Train General, Publicly Available AI Models:
   • Google states that your Google Workspace data (the content from your Gmail, Docs, Drive, etc., that Gemini might access to fulfil your requests) is not used to train Google’s general, publicly available AI models that power services for other customers or the public.
   • Your organisation’s data remains your organisation’s data.
3. Admin Controls over Gemini Services:
   • Your Google Workspace administrator has controls over whether the Gemini app and its associated features are enabled for your organisation or specific groups of users.
   • Administrators also have settings related to Gemini conversation history, including whether it’s turned on and for how long it’s retained within your organisation’s Workspace environment (e.g., 18 months by default, but configurable by the admin).
4. User Permissions Respected:
   • Gemini only accesses data that the user interacting with it already has permission to access within Google Workspace. For example, if you ask Gemini to summarise a document, it can only do so if you have viewing rights (or higher) for that document.
5. Data Security:
   • Google Workspace includes various security features designed to protect your data, and these generally extend to data processed by Gemini within the Workspace ecosystem.
6. Gemini Apps Activity (for standalone gemini.google.com):
   • When using the standalone Gemini web app (gemini.google.com) or mobile app with your Workspace account, your activity (prompts and responses) may be saved to your “Gemini Apps Activity.”
   • As mentioned, your Workspace administrator controls how this activity history is managed, including retention periods and potentially the ability for users to delete this history. These admin settings typically override individual user preferences for Workspace accounts.
   • Even if Gemini Apps Activity history is turned off by your admin, conversations might be saved for a short period (e.g., up to 72 hours) to allow Google to provide the service and process any feedback, but this short-term data won’t appear in your viewable Gemini Apps Activity.
7. Transparency and Control:
   • Google aims to provide transparency about how AI features work. You can often find more information in the Google Workspace Trust centre, Privacy Hub, and specific help articles for Gemini.

Important Considerations: #

• Sensitive Information: As with any tool, exercise caution when inputting highly sensitive or confidential company information into prompts, especially if you are unsure about your organisation’s specific data handling policies for AI tools.
• Review Your Organisation’s Policies: Your organisation may have its own specific guidelines or policies regarding the use of AI tools like Gemini with company data. It’s always good to be aware of these.

By default, Gemini for Google Workspace is designed with enterprise-grade data protection in mind, aiming to keep your organisation’s data private and secure while providing helpful AI assistance.