I remember getting flamed so hard for saying that Google/android was incredibly invasive tech. I was laughed at, called an apple fanboy and accused of schilling.
Sadly, it looks like I’m the one laughing now.
this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2025
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Lol and Apple doesnt do any of that?
Show me evidence they do.
I can't. Everything they release is proprietary and locked down, so let's just trust their narrative.
I can only recommend well researched eyeopener from Techaltar: https://youtu.be/JHnBOUNxHsw
So, they’re doing shit you can prove, but they’re doing it. Do I have that right?
I will be honest that I don't know what exact shit are we discussing here I rather wanted to point out that Apple might not be as much privacy first company as they like to present themselves.
If they’re not, I’m sure it should be easy for you to provide evidence to support your claim. That’s all I’m asking.
That is the shit we are talking about.
They haven't done anything with that data yet*
While clearly the lesser evil in this moment, I wouldn't count on that lasting forever.
As every user at some points mentions: They are a public company and once they can't satisfy their shareholders, they will turn on the data faucet to 3rd parties. They already have the an advertisement CDN.
They already have everything in place to achieve that situation.
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My gf got one of those emails, but she doesnt have the Gemini app installed on her phone. All of the instruction articles I can find only explain how to turn it off if you have the app.
Does not having the app mean that she's safe from this, or does it mean that she needs to download the app to disable the "feature"?
I also don't have a Gemini app but if you search for Gemini in the Settings main menu, it shows up.
I don't have the app, and searching for "gemini" only gives "gemini settings" which when clicked opens the promt of "do you accept changing Google assistant to gemini", clicking "not now" just sends me back to setting search.
Thank you. We had actually already checked this but had not found Gemini in the settings.
Turns out typing "gem" in the settings search is not enough. Only typing "Gemini" returned a result.
Sneaky, aren't they?
I have Android 16 on a Pixel 8 but no Gemini. Is it not installed if I chose "No thanks" when I got the info screens about it?
Open settings, and search for"Gemini" from the search bar. That's the only way I was able to get to anything Gemini related. I turned off it's access to everything from there, then the last setting was to switch back to assistant which appears to have turned Gemini off, but who knows (hence disabling it's access to everything anyway).
With search there's only a single "Gemini Settings" that is found. That opens a wizard for me. On the second page, after scrolling all the way down, I can select "No thanks". That's what I was referring to. I was wondering if that's enough.
Signal is also a great alternative to WhatsApp. Molly for the extra privacy focused.
Not that I support this, but hasn't Google Assistant been able to do that for years? Sending texts via the voice assistant has been, like, one of the main selling points.
Kinda, but the thing this time is that they will change it f unilaterally rom their side, even if you specifically disabled this connectivity on your phone. So they want that data reallyyyyy badly. So even more important to not give it to them.
For those on Pixel devices, check out GrapheneOS. If not CalyxOS or LineageOS
Its important that we have devices that we control. If your phone doesn't allow bootloader unlock so you can install a different operating system, that's a problem. Claims that security is compromised if bootloaders can be unlocked are just companies using a convenient excuse to maintain control over a device you paid for.
The reason they don't want you to unlock your bootloader is because of security....
...security of their revenue stream, that is.
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What I hate most about this is the lack of control over this it implies. Sure, maybe you don’t install this on your device, but all that’s needed for Google to access your messages now is for someone you message to have it installed and enabled, then anything you send to them will be gobbled up by Google.
If the Gemini app is not installed, it can't do this right
laughs in LineageOS
Gemini was automatically installed for me, and the app connections were all enabled, like the article describes. Better check and be safe than to be sorry
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I'm rather confused. I don't have any app called Gemini installed, but despite this "Hey Google" brings up Gemini. So I have no app to disable, and no way to turn off interaction with other apps. This is on a Samsung A55 in Europe, happily taking advice on how to proceed.
I found settings for it in my phone's settings menu, so yeah, no standalone app you can disable or remove. They baked it into the OS.
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These instructions are awful. There's no Gemini listed in my apps, and Settings > Apps doesn't show it either. But if I search for "Gemini" in settings, THEN it shows up, but doesn't have access to anything the article says to do.
However, from that screen, I was able to apparently turn off its access to everything, and switch back to assistant, which appears to have turned it off completely, but who knows if it's still lurking in the background.
I can't find Gemini on my phone.
It's absolutely there,it relaced assistant...
Privacy-conscious Indians are gonna have a nightmare. Indians excessively use whatsapp.
Everyone outside of the US uses whatsapp.
In Norway we use Facebook Messenger, which is worse. Wattsapp's at least usable as a messaging platform for more than 1-to-1 communication
Viber is more popular in eastern europe
Sure , in 2010.
Still is. At least in my country its probably more popular than the rest of them combined.
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