Google has started turning on its Workspace smart features by default . These changes mean that Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Chat, and Meet now use Gemini AI to process personal content, unless people choose to switch these settings off. Many users, including me, recently found these settings enabled automatically.
Google’s help page says that these smart features are on by default in most regions except the EU, Switzerland, the UK, and Japan. Privacy laws in those places require users to make a choice before turning on smart features. Outside those regions, many users are noticing the options preselected, which allows AI tools to read their Workspace content and cross-reference that information across services.
In response to claims that Google trains its AI on users’ Workspace materials, the company told The Register it does “not use your Workspace data to train or improve the underlying generative AI and large language models that power Bard, Search, and other systems outside of Workspace without permission.” This level of consent unlocks inbox categorization, grammar and spell check, and smart reply suggestions.
You can switch off Google Workspace’s default smart features, if you know where to look. (Malwarebytes has a handy guide.)
Google claims it has always been transparent when making changes to terms or policies. Still, experts in data privacy warn that users should check their Workspace settings to be sure they are comfortable with the options selected.