# Gmail AI Is Reading Your Emails So It Can “Summarize” Them. Here’s How to Turn It Off. > Source: > Published: 2026-08-03 12:04:51+00:00 Google quietly turned on a string of AI features in Gmail, Google Chat, and Google Meet in late 2025. And those features don’t simply scan messages or video chats: they’re scanning your emails and conversations, and they scan them all. While Google insists the data stays within your account (and does a decent job of obscuring just how that works in practice), the company may be using your communications for summaries and draft replies. And while social media performance trends pose privacy and safety concerns, nothing feels quite so raw and vulnerable as the contents of personal email. For those who weren’t watching closely, Google didn’t ask for permission in advance or present users with a pop-up menu explaining the new features. And while there’s always a settings page to review, most users are unlikely to be checking settings pages in advance of an upgrade. It’s not like Google is asking for your explicit consent before using your data to improve their apps; even if the data doesn’t leave your account, Google still has it, and it may be useful for reasons beyond your direct control. That’s raising a variety of legal challenges and class-action lawsuits, and prompting doubts about the fine print and informed consent Google relies on in terms of service. Email wasn’t always a space for unfiltered communication about health, finances, and family. But it became one as relationships grew more private and spam filters grew stricter. In contrast to social media, which we’re constantly managing and optimizing, email is a place where most people still speak almost exactly how they’d speak in person. And while the convenience of defaults is usually worth it, the same convenience means a lot of users are letting Google run the show on their emails, without careful consideration of privacy settings and security concerns. If you haven’t opted out yet, there’s still time. Just don’t wait too long. Open Gmail in a browser. Click the gear icon, top right. Click See all settings. Find Smart features and personalization. Uncheck “Turn on smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet.” Save. This is the switch Google will point to if you ask. It’s real, and it does something. It just doesn’t do everything. Stay on the same settings page. Scroll down to Google Workspace smart features. Click Manage Workspace smart feature settings. You’ll see two checkboxes. One of them says something to the effect of “Allow Google to analyze my or my organization’s activity to improve my experience. They may use Google or third-party partners’ services to help.” Uncheck both. Save. Most people stop at Step 1 and feel handled. You’re not handled until you’ve done this one. The first switch is the door. This one is the lock. Settings don’t always sync between devices, which is annoying but here we are. Open the Gmail app. Menu, top left. Settings. Tap your account. Turn off Smart features and personalization. Confirm. If you have two accounts on the phone, do both. If your parents use Gmail, and they do, call them and walk them through it. They will not find this on their own. You know this. The first three steps stop the AI going forward. This one deals with what’s already there. If you’ve ever used Gemini, even once, even just to see what it does, your conversations may be stored. Google has acknowledged that some Gemini interactions can be reviewed by human contractors for quality purposes. Go to myactivity.google.com/product/gemini. Turn off Gemini Apps Activity. Then hit Delete Activity, select All Time, confirm. If you’ve never used Gemini, do it anyway. Close the door before you need to. You’ll want to go even further if there are particularly sensitive documents (like medical records or financial information) you’ve sent and received, or you receive emails at work that don’t belong in the same cloud that you use to pay your bills. Those inboxes could be sent and stored on a separate email account linked to an end-to-end encrypted service like Proton Mail or another secure option of your choice. You’ll want to keep everything else in Gmail, including your share of newsletters, your calendar, Google Drive and any other message destinations you rely on. It’s time to pay this surprisingly easy opt out forward to people who might not even know to look for this switch until it’s too late. Parents, in particular, should do all this to be absolutely certain they’re not storing confidential health, financial, social or other private details on Google. And everyone else: act now, protect your own information, then help the people you know do the same. [Gmail AI Is Reading Your Emails So It Can “Summarize” Them. Here’s How to Turn It Off.](https://blog.devgenius.io/gmail-ai-is-reading-your-emails-so-it-can-summarize-them-heres-how-to-turn-it-off-c2dd8aed3c8a) was originally published in [Dev Genius](https://blog.devgenius.io) on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.