this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2025
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[–] [email protected] 69 points 4 days ago (6 children)

EU citizen here. The first link redirects to the Gemini front page for me. Tried with a trailing slash, that gives a 404. Second one confirms there is no Gemini activity to delete. Never did use Gemini. I guess this means they didn't automatically onboard EU folk...?

I really should delete my Google account, since all I use it for is a Gmail account for whenever I need to enter an email for anything.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 days ago

Yep. Seems like I couldn't even turn it on if I wanted to. They won't even admit that such things exist.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago

Same here from the UK. I'm guessing it just because we've not used Gemini yet?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Just setup a new account with a more privacy focused provider and move your accounts to a new email as you use them.

I still have a Gmail account, but it's never used for new accounts and I don't stay logged into it on my phone or browser. Every time I notice some old account associated with it I'll delete it or move it

It's becoming more and more rare that I need to login

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

I think this means you haven't used Gemini yet and therefore not given permission to Gemini to use your data

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

I'm glad we're safe for now but thanks for the warning OP.

[–] Kecessa 2 points 4 days ago

Hamburger menu, settings, it's right there

[–] [email protected] 27 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Is this a regional thing? This isn't on by default on my accounts.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago

It could be dependent on your country’s privacy regulations.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Google is the kind of company you can’t really trust with these things. There’s new stuff going on with those settings all the time, so you might want to read through all of the settings every now and then. If you haven’t done that in a while, you’re probably going to find some creepy stuff.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Just stop using their shit... the only thing that they provide that is a must is youtube...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

As long as Google makes at least one thing you use, you might want to check those settings from time to time. YT is clearly one of the hardest things to replace though.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 days ago (1 children)

i rely on other people's accounts now since i can't get one anymore haha

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 days ago

Freetube/New pipe

If it's age restricted then I just don't watch it.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 days ago (1 children)

If you periodically have to turn off checkboxes in products to feel your data is better protected:

  • it’s really not
  • just move to something else

That way you also stop sponsoring said company.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Criticizing is easy, try offering solutions as well. If there are people that use Google's slew of products, what's an alternative they can move to?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 days ago

syncthing and KDE connect do a great job of replacing all kinds of google features.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 3 days ago

At this point, self hosting seems to be the best way to use these sorts of services and still have a semblance of privacy. But I understand that's well outside the scope of less techie users

[–] Daze 13 points 4 days ago

TY for the share 🙏

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

It looks like doing the 2nd one automatically does the first one.

[–] southsamurai 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Mind you, it assumes those settings do anything at all other than make you feel good

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (3 children)

luckily there are laws that these companies have to abide by

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

Laws for the little pedons...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

-scoffs in American-

[–] southsamurai 2 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Oh, gee, they'll get fined a single percent of their monthly revenue, if they get caught.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Up to 4 percent of their global annual revenue if the EU finds out.

Violators of GDPR may be fined up to €20 million, or up to 4% of the annual worldwide turnover of the preceding financial year, whichever is greater.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 days ago

getting caught seems quite likely, but yeah the fines are laughable

[–] buffysummers 6 points 4 days ago

Thanks a lot. 👍

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

https://bsky.app/profile/rrookstudio.bsky.social/post/3lfutd6dmz22b

Here's the original (on Bluesky, I belief the original originating was on Instagram...)

[–] [email protected] -2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I really hate posts that say "everyone" but it only affects a handful of people...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

"Only a handful of people"

You need a Google account for the vast majority of default android installs, ergo, Gemini spying on your android device.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I use Android with a Google account. The links don’t work for me because I never used Gemini.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I've never used gemini, and I still had to turn it off.

The first link didn't seem to work for me so I clicked the settings on the left hand pane, and clicked "extensions" and it brought me to the page where you can shut it off.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 4 days ago