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AI will dominate this year’s Android and iPhone updates. A lot of that is due to Google. But this comes with a serious warning to all users, given that it affects us all. And this should change the way we use our phones.
Google issues AI warning to smartphone users
The AI smartphone roller coaster is well underway. It was always expected that integrating generative AI into the smartphone apps we use most would surpass the popularity of ChatGPT last year. And we are here now.
But not so fast. This comes with significant security and privacy risks.
We all seem to have blind spots when it comes to generative AI chatbots. We might be careful about the apps we install, the permissions we give them, the browsers we use, the data we share with Facebook, Google, etc. But when we put ourselves in front of an AI chatbot, we forget everything and suddenly end up feeling like we’re having a private chat with a kind new friend. And we want to share.
But this is clearly not a friend, but a front to a multi-billion dollar computing ecosystem that is ultimately funded by advertising and data brokerage.
I’ve previously warned about this when introducing AI chat to private messaging apps. Now, just as Bard turns into Gemini and a large number of new apps start appearing on our phones, Google itself is reminding all his Android and iPhone users to pay close attention to these new technologies. I warned you to pay.
“Don’t enter confidential information in your conversations, data you don’t want reviewers to see, or data you don’t want Google to use to improve its products, services, or machine learning technology,” Google warns. ing. “Google collects conversations in Gemini Apps, related product usage information, location information, and feedback.” It says this information is used to “improve and develop Google’s products and services and machine learning technology.” .
Google DeepMind Gemini
Fortunately, Google assures us that “Conversations in Gemini Apps are not used to display ads,” but that may change, and at that time, “We will make it clear that We will inform you.”
The risk here is that a big privacy nightmare will befall those who overshare the various AI chatbots that help them write business plans, sales presentations, or cheat on their school assignments. When you click to end the chat, the questions you asked and the answers you answered will be saved as part of your record for you to retrieve and review. And there is a possibility of it leaking.
Of course, standalone apps are just the beginning, and Google also notes that “When you use Gemini apps in integration with other Google services, those services may be used by you to provide and improve their services, in accordance with their policies and Google’s rules. ‘save and use your data.’ privacy policy. If you use the Gemini App to interact with third-party services, the third-party services will process your data according to their own privacy policies. ”
The risks posed by generative AI are finally being understood. For example, when it comes to messaging, I warned that Google Gemini (née Bard) appears to be asked to review all of his past private messages in order to shape the context and content of his suggestions. It also compromises the end-to-end encryption of messages.
The real issue here is off-device open storage. Google says data is stored for up to 18 months “by default,” but “you can change this to 3 or 36 months in your activity settings in the Gemini app.” Your general area, IP address, Information about your location, including your home or work address in your Google Account, is also stored with your Gemini Apps activity. ”
Of course, this isn’t limited to Google. This level of data collection and use is very common across the emerging Gen-AI industry. For example, we still don’t know how to judge the security and privacy of Google and OpenAI.
But as ESET’s Jake Moore warns, “The data we share online, even in private channels, can be stored, analyzed, and even shared with third parties. If the information is valuable, even considered currency in itself, AI models can be designed to dig deeper into users who are divulging vast amounts of personal information. Data sharing can ultimately lead to security and privacy issues in the future, but many users are unaware of the risks. ”
Google says you can turn off long-term data collection within Gemini by tweaking Gemini’s settings. “Future conversations will not be sent for human review or used to improve our generative machine learning models. You can also delete chats from Pinned Chats or Recent Chats. When you do this, the related activities will also be removed from “Gemini App Activities”. But even if I do this“Conversations are stored in your account for up to 72 hours so that we can provide you with the service and process your feedback. This activity will not appear in your Gemini app activity.”
As we have previously commented, the on-device/off-device nature of the AI analytics that will drive this new generation of smartphone capabilities will be the new big divide. Apple may do as much as it can with its own apps and services on devices.Hopefully it works. And now we know that they are experimenting with the on/off performance of the device. Google will be doing a lot more in the cloud, considering a completely different set-up and focus.
There are some difficult choices for the millions of Android and iPhone users who currently have Gemini-powered apps installed on their devices. The rest of us won’t be far behind.
You can’t have it both ways. We value privacy and the great advances in recent years regarding private browsing, tracking, and location sharing. Or maybe AI integrated into mainstream apps is so awesome we can’t live without it, and we’ll use it for everything.
If it’s the latter, this may be the ultimate “be careful what you wish for.”
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