How to turn off Gemini in Gmail — and why you should | Proton

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Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨pageflight@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://proton.me/blog/turn-off-gemini-gmail

In your Gmail app, go to Settings.
Select your Gmail address.
Clear the Smart features checkbox.
Go to Google Workspace smart features.
Clear the checkboxes for: Smart features in Google Workspace, Smart features in other Google products
If you have more Gmail accounts, repeat these steps for each one.
Turning off Gemini in Gmail also disables basic, long-standing features like spellchecking, which predate AI assistants. This design choice discourages opting out and shows how valuable your AI-processed data is for Google.

This has finally gotten me to take steps to deGoogle my email, Fastmail trial underway.

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Comments

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hperrin@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Proton has their own AI bullshit:

lumo.proton.me

At least it’s not rummaging around your email though.

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- artyom@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I don’t necessarily have a problem with offering AI. Especially in actually-useful contexts. I have a problem with it being forced on me in unwanted ones.
  
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  - CosmoNova@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I have a problem with encryption possibly being a thing of the past because users I write with will put all incoming messages through some LLM because they can‘t be arsed to actually read and reply themselves.
    
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- Holytimes@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yeah but lumo is basically just a side gimmick thing that isn’t integrated with the rest of their suite.
  
  It’s basically the equivalent of a self hosted small LLM that you don’t have to fuck around with setting up.
  
  There’s nothing inherently wrong with LLMs as a tool. The problem is the misuse, misapplication and over scaling of them.
  
  If they were all just one off tools like lumo that are basically slightly more advanced digital assistants they would be fine.
  
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  - hperrin@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I mean, I get that, but why is Proton offering one? What value do I get from Proton’s LLM that I wouldn’t get from any other company’s LLM? It’s not privacy, because it’s not end to end encrypted. It’s not features, because it’s just a fine tuned version of the free Mistral model (from what I can tell). It’s not integration (thank goodness), because they don’t have access to your data to integrate it with (according to their privacy policy).
    
    I kind of just hate the idea that every tech company is offering an LLM service now. Proton is an email and VPN company. Those things make sense. The calendar and drive stuff too. They have actual selling points that differentiate them from other offerings. But investing engineering time and talent into yet another LLM, especially one that’s worse than the competition, just seems like a waste to me. And especially since it’s not something that fits into their other product offerings.
    
    It truly seems like they just wanted to have something AI related so they wouldn’t be “left behind” in case the hype wasn’t a bubble. I don’t like it when companies do that. It makes me think they don’t really have a clear direction.
    
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- timestatic@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  No one is forcing you to use it. Having a european AI like Lumo that encrypts transcripts is great in comparison to shady big tech companies. Yes I know the full context is sent each time the AI wants to generate something. But still, I’m happy they offer it.
  
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- Broken@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Its good to clarify that it’s not end to end encrypted like their email because its not clear from their marketing wording that its not. Its very easy to presume “encrypted” is the same encryption process they are known for on their email.
  
  The flip side of that coin is that it is a separate tool you don’t have to use. You can choose to use as many or few of their products as you wish (its not forced on you).
  
  It’s also a plus that there is SOME encryption and attempts at privacy vs every other alternative besides self hosting.
  
  I’ve personally found lumo to be very useful in troubleshooting computer issues that I’m unfamiliar with. I’ve learned a lot from using it, and the researching was faster than scouring forums myself and presented to me in a single pane. Its just a tool similar to a web browser. I choose a browser that helps me be private and I choose an AI tool that does the same, but I don’t expect either to actually keep me private.
  
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jordanlund@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I did all that ages ago and re-confirmed, it’s still all disabled…

But Gemini persists:

Image

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- victorz@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  The hell? How can that be?
  
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  - jordanlund@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    What the column has you do is disable Gemini access in Mail, but it is still on for search.
    
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  - brooke592@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    The billion-dollar company pays a lot of people to abuse its customers.
    
    After getting into web development, I realize that no abusive tactic is an accident.
    
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victorz@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
tuta.com/blog/how-to-disable-gemini-on-android

Tuta is always pretty quick to report on these things. 🙂

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python@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
All the suggestions in this thread are good, but for anyone who doesn’t want to self-host or change providers entirely (because changing your email is an absolute pain in the ass):

At least get a different mail client. You don’t have to use the official Gmail App to access Gmail! I personally really like FairEmail, because it’s open source, has no unnecessary bells and whistles, and just works. It takes less than 5mins to download it and move Gmail over there completely, with no risk of losing any data or missing any mails.

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- bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Or Thunderbird, I use that with my yahoo email ive had for 20 years. I cant get rid of it at this point ha
  
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  - Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Have Thunderbird in my phone.
    IMO equal and almost better than Outlook (primarily with multiple accounts)
    
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gravitas@pie.gravitywell.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
How to turn off Gemini in one step:

1) Stop using google’s services.

If i was actually running my own competing service I’d probably suggest switching to it instead of writing a blog post to help people use my competition, but i guess thats why I don’t work in marketing, this must be some big brained 4-d chess move.

Why does it matter if its googles “AI’ slurping up your emails, or just their massive advertising and tracking network? Do the ads seem less intrusive if they’re just coming from adsense instead of gemini? Are people actually foolish enough to think “disabling” a feature like this actually stops google from constantly scanning every single one of their emails?

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- TheTechnician27@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  but i guess thats why I don’t work in marketing
  
  Yeah, I guess it is, because this article works in Proton’s favor on multiple levels:
  
  Plenty of Proton users have switched over from Gmail and still have their old account and still, even with forwarding, occasionally need to use those old addresses.
  
  People who search for a guide who’ve never or rarely heard of Proton might end up on their site and read a guide that lambasts Google’s usage of AI.
  
  Meanwhile, Proton’s alternative product is being advertised everywhere on the page outside the guide and even is advertised within it.
  
  These guides are going to exist anyway (many, in fact). You’re acting like this is some extremely niche thing users might want to do. Having your own guide but poisoned with your marketing when you’re the underdog is a sound idea.
  
  This gives a benevolent image of “Good Guy Proton” who just wants to keep people’s data private regardless of business – and a “Bad Guy Google” image because it’s apparently so dire that their competition has to do this.
  
  You’re so smarmy about this but just come off as a complete dipshit who gave this two seconds of thought.
  
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  - victorz@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You had such excellent points all up until the unnecessary ad hominem at the end there. No need for name calling when you’ve already won.
    
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  - gravitas@pie.gravitywell.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    The post is just an ad disguised as a guide and absolutely pointless. You know what else will show people how to disable gemini, googles own ai based search.
    
    ImageSorry if my aversion to advertising comes off as smarmy, im tired of seeing companies go from focusing on providing one good service like email and trying to become the next one service fits all replacement for google. Instead of doing one thing extremely well it becomes a race to do as many things as they can and get people to replace one monolith with their own.
    
    Proton is the most recent to make this shift and its obvious they want to be like google but with “privacy” as a gimmic because its only private until they get a government order telling them to do something to unmask a user or monitor an email.
    
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brooke592@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’m slowly moving my accounts over from gmail to protonmail.

Privacy should be the default, not the exception.

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SloganLessons@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Ooooorrrrrr… You knowww… Delete or stop using your google account and their services?

Because if what actually bothers you is the idea that Google is spying on your things with Gemini…

First: lol. lmao even.

Second: Sorry for the laugh, but that’s because I believe that they don’t need gemini to do that, they do it anyway regardless of your settings.

Case in point, last year google was sentenced to pay a fine because they were collecting data from their users, even though those users had tracking turned off in their settings. And I believe it wasn’t the first time, but I can’t be arsed to search for older examples.

An ad company that has trackers almost everywhere on the web and tracks you even if you’re not using their services, that understanding and studying your behaviour is a central part of their business model; and you believe that they won’t spy and track you because you asked them not to? C’mon

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- Bahnd@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Degoogling your self is a process and needs to be handled carefully. Realisticly, this quite difficult if your not a fruit phone user, but there is hope for people who arn’t neck deep in Apples walled garden. GraphenOS announced last year they would be expanding their range of supported devices. [Link]
  
  Once that happens, closing the ol’ google account will be much easier or atleast use a modern smart phone without having it tied to the tornent nexus.
  
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  - pageflight@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Thanks. Yes, Google had been evil for a long time, probably before they removed “don’t be evil.” No, let’s not be gatekeepers.
    
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  - SloganLessons@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Yeah, this is one of those cases where we can’t let perfection be the enemy of action. I myself I’m in the middle of degoogling as well, and it’s a process that is taking a few months now (and will take some more).
    
    But even if you use a googled android and still use some of their services, simply not defaulting to them for everything goes a long way. Use other browsers, use other search engines, use other email providers, etc.
    
    But the point I was making was more about the privacy side of things. I don’t believe that leaving those AI features on or off makes that much difference at the end of the day. Google will still spy on your content, and if they want to, they will use it for AI training regardless.
    
    I know that their policies and whatnot might say differently, but I don’t trust that they respect them.
    
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cley_faye@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
That’s assuming the setting is respected server-side, of course. With the track record of company doing AI training, respect of rules and law isn’t really part of their actions.

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Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Don’t use gmail?

From all things in the modern world, E-Mail is the easiest to have for yourself.

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- Taldan@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’ve been using Proton for years, 100% would recommend
  
  That being said, I have had to use my gmail a couple times over the years because some sites do not accept an email address unless it’s from one of the top few email providers. It’s fucked
  
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  - Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I went one step further and use my own domain where I can freely choose my hosting provider.
    
    So far I havent had an issue with sites accepting my domain (and it’s not a very common one to start with).
    The only issue I have faced so far is with some sites seemingly unable to fathom how one would want to switch their email.
    Looking at you IoI Interactive
    
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slevinkelevra@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
LOL I did and these fuckers decided to disable my widget. It only shows my inbox as empty. Yeah I definitely need to continue my de-googlifying.

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- hperrin@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’d like to invite you to try port87.com
  
  It’s proudly AI free.
  
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  - db2@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    
    Discord
    
    🤔
    
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  - sem@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    What do you like about them? Over fastmail or whatever
    
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Lfrith@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
It is very freeing seeing updates that don’t affect me much since I’ve moved on from gmail.

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Womble@piefed.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

Google promises(new window) that Gmail’s 3 billion users will benefit from a “personal, proactive inbox assistant”. But given that these features are free, what’s the catch? Make no mistake, Google isn’t doing this out of generosity. The contents of your inbox are valuable to the company.

Email used to be a more private space where your communications could potentially be intercepted by bad actors, but largely your data was your own.

I dont think that is true wrt gmail is it? Google have been scanning your messages and using that for machine learning based ad targeting since it was released.

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- hperrin@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I don’t think they meant Gmail used to be private, but email. Yes, Gmail has never been private. But, that’s why it’s free.
  
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  - Womble@piefed.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    That doesn’t make any sense as a reason to turn off Gemini in your inbox though. Either you are ok with having your emails scanned and used in ML systems, in which case why bother turning off the feature; or you aren’t and turning off the feature doesn’t help you.
    
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DaddleDew@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Step 1: Use an open source mail client that doesn’t contain trackers like FairEmail instead of Google’s app.

No further steps.

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- pageflight@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
  I’ve been enjoying FairEmail. Nice to have options like ‘would you like to remove sensitive data before attaching this image’ instead of ‘do you wish you could turn off this AI bloat’.
  
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rhythmisaprancer@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I am happy I don’t need google products for anything. I have been using Mailfence for several years and been fine with it. For folks who can leave gmail, there are multiple good options, at least for email.

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JCSpark@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Or… Migrate to another email service provider?

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- pageflight@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Like I said, working on it. But you know, this evening do I try to dismantle ICE, cook dinner, play a game, or research email providers? Lots of competing priorities in life, let’s celebrate the wins.
  
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sem@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I need to someday self-host a gmail archive

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