Google faces US lawsuit over alleged secret monitoring using AI

According to a complaint filed in federal court in San Jose, California, the company is accused of unlawfully tracking emails, instant messages, and video calls without user consent. The lawsuit, spanning 21 pages and five counts, claims that while users were previously given the option to activate Gemini, Google allegedly enabled the tool by default across its communication platforms.

“On or about October 10, 2025, Google secretly turned on Gemini for all its users’ Gmail, Chat, and Meet accounts, enabling AI to track its users’ private communications contained in those platforms without the users’ knowledge or consent. As of the date of this filing, Google continues to track these private communications with Gemini by default, requiring users to affirmatively find this data privacy setting and shut it off, despite never ‘agreeing’ to such AI tracking in the first place,” the lawsuit reads.

The class-action suit claims that this move allowed Google to gather private information from its users, “including literally every email and attachment sent and received in their Gmail accounts,” without their knowledge or permission. Although Google provides the option to disable Gemini, the complaint argues that doing so requires users to navigate deeply into privacy settings, thus concealing the feature’s activation.

“Plaintiff has maintained and used, and continues to maintain and use, his Google account, including the Gmail, Chat, and/or Meet services. Plaintiff values his privacy—and the privacy of his family and friends—in the use of these password-protected services and reasonably expected the messages and conversations therein to remain private. Despite this reasonable expectation, Google surreptitiously turned on the ‘Smart features’ setting in Plaintiff’s Data privacy settings without Plaintiff’s knowledge or consent and began tracking Plaintiff’s private communications with Gemini AI,” the document explains, adding that the plaintiff regularly used these platforms throughout the day, unaware that Gemini AI was monitoring them.

The lawsuit further alleges that Google’s actions violate the California Invasion of Privacy Act, a 1967 statute that prohibits the recording or wiretapping of private conversations without the consent of all participants.

“Google’s deceptive and outrageous conduct violates its users’ reasonable expectations of privacy. The intent and efforts of individuals to safeguard their private information and communications must be respected. (…) While falsely characterizing its illusory privacy controls, Google deceptively and unconscionably deprived and continues to deprive Plaintiff and Class Members of their privacy right to send and receive private communications via email, chat, and video. This is true not only for Plaintiff and Class Members, but also for their children, whose private communications they also sought to protect,” the document reads.

The complaint notes that the monitored communications could have revealed financial, employment, medical, political, and religious information, as well as personal and family details.

Earlier, Kazinform reported about the major Google data breach, with 2.5 million Gmail accounts suffering as a result.