Yeah, I like Ars, but this article is fearmongering trash. It's actually a positive move for privacy. "Gemini Apps Activity" is a setting that allows Google to store your Gemini interactions for analytics, human review, etc..., generally a privacy nightmare. However, with it off, Gemini can't even do basic stuff like setting a reminder. It's just a nonsense-spewing LLM with no assistant functionality. This update allows you to turn it off while still being able to do useful assistant stuff.
Google could have worded things better, but this is a move in the right direction.
Case closed! Wrap it up everyone. Pay no attention to the single missing page in the Walmart catalogue submitted as evidence.