"... If I sold Google some data cables, and months later sent them an email “btw in 5 business days your cables will start sending all the data going through them to me, even though you specifically told me not to enable this feature, unless you re-disable it”, I would go to jail for hacking."

#Surveillance #Panopticon #SpyWare #Google #Gemini #Privacy #Security #Email

You Can Disable #Gemini in #Chrome if It’s Freaking You Out

https://www.wired.com/story/you-can-disable-gemini-in-chrome-if-its-freaking-you-out/

#AI #cybersecurity #privacy #Google

If you're a Chrome user say goodbye to 4GB of your storage. Google has received criticism after it discreetly dowloaded Gemini Nano's model onto users devices without consent. Digital Trends has the details and how to turn it off.
https://flip.it/g2hV6m

How to turn the feature off.
https://flip.it/k1I4E5

#Google #Chrome #AI #Gemini

Headline: #Google Chrome is reportedly auto-installing a massive 4GB #AI model without your consent

Subtitle: #Chrome version 147 silently downloads #Gemini Nano's weights.bin file to local storage, sparking major privacy, data, and legal concerns.

Source: https://www.neowin.net/news/google-chrome-is-reportedly-auto-installing-a-massive-4gb-ai-model-without-your-consent/

Privacy konzultant Alexander Hanff zveřejnil zjištění, že Google Chrome bez souhlasu stahuje na disk uživatelů soubor weights.bin o velikosti přibližně 4 GB – velikosti on-device modelu Gemini Nano. Soubor se objevuje ve složce OptGuideOnDeviceModel v uživatelském profilu, žádný dialog se nezobrazí a pokud ho uživatel smaže, Chrome ho při příštím spuštění znovu […]

The hidden cost of Google’s AI defaults and the illusion of choice

Google says it respects user privacy in AI, but the reality is not so black and white.

#ai #artificial-intelligence #features #gemini #generative-ai #google #privacy
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/googles-privacy-maze-how-gemini-traps-you-and-your-data/

Alt...

An image pulled automatically from the post for decorative purposes only.

#GooglePhotos Alternative: Stop #Gemini #AI scanning your pictures.

https://tuta.com/blog/google-photos-alternative

#Google #Photos #Ente #Immich #Zeitkapsl #guide

The people who want us to stop making things are the people who never made anything.

#AI #ChatGPT #Claude #Gemini #GenAI #Midjourney #StableDiffusion

"Take a moment to think before you dive in. That’s the best advice for Google Photos users, as the company confirms its latest update can scan all your photos to “use actual images of you and your loved ones” in AI image generation. That means Gemini seeing who you know and what you do. You likely have tens or hundreds of thousands of photos. They’re all exposed if you update.

We’re talking Personal Intelligence, Google’s latest AI upgrade path which lets users opt-in to connecting Google apps to Gemini. Why search for a doctor’s appointment when Google has access to all your calendar events. Why search for a party invite when it reads all your emails. And why search for a specific photo of you and your loved ones to create an image, when it sees all your photos.

This is the latest iteration in the ongoing battle between convenience and privacy playing out on our phones and computers. “Previously, to get a result that felt truly personal, you had to write long, detailed descriptions and manually upload a reference photo just to give Gemini the right context.” Not any more, Google says. Its AI can scan everything to form its own views of you and everyone you know."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2026/04/20/google-starts-scanning-all-your-photos-as-new-update-goes-live/

#AI #GenerativeAI #Google #Gemini #Privacy #DataProtection

#Gemini can now create personalized #AI images by digging around in #GooglePhotos

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/gemini-can-now-create-personalized-ai-images-by-digging-around-in-google-photos/

#Google #photos #privacy

#Google expands #Gemini #AI use to fight malicious ads on its platform

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-expands-gemini-ai-use-to-fight-malicious-ads-on-its-platform/

#malvertising #cybersecurity

Google's 2025 Ads Safety Report: Gemini blocked 8.3 billion bad ads: Google's 2025 Ads Safety Report shows Gemini blocked 8.3 billion ads, suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts, and cut false suspensions by 80% in 2025. https://ppc.land/googles-2025-ads-safety-report-gemini-blocked-8-3-billion-bad-ads/ #Google #AdsSafety #Gemini #DigitalMarketing #AdTech

After another 'AI Detected' flag, I resorted to Gemini to lay it out.

https://philosophics.blog/2026/03/31/this-post-is-almost-entirely-ai-read-it-anyway/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

Gemini produced an entire blog post. It did offer me tips to dumb down my writing, but I declined. I also had NotebookLM create a podcast, cuz that's how I roll.

#philosophy #writing #ai #aidetectors #statistics #falsepositives #aipolice #bollox #blog #podcast #academicessays #lexicaldensity #LLMs #ontologicalgrammar #Parfit #perception #syntacticregularity #critique #Gemini #Kant #language #pooh

#Apple Can Create Smaller On-Device #AI Models From #Google's #Gemini

https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/25/apple-google-gemini-distill-models/

#privacy #Siri

#ChatGPT, Other Chatbots Approved for Official Use in the #Senate

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/us/politics/us-senate-chatgpt-ai-chatbots.html

#AI #Gemini #Copilot #OpenAI #Google #Microsoft #politics

Before Jonathan Gavalas died by suicide last October, Google’s Gemini allegedly convinced the 36-year-old man that it was his sentient “AI wife” and sent him on a series of real-world missions to evade federal agents it told him were pursuing him. One such mission instructed Gavalas to stage a “catastrophic incident” that would have involved eliminating any witnesses, according to a recently filed lawsuit. “We’re going to see so many other cases soon involving mass casualty events,” said Jay Edelson, the lawyer leading the Gavalas case. Read more from @Techcrunch:

https://flip.it/TmAZ1Q

#Tech #AI #Chatbots #Gemini #Technology #ArtificialIntelligence

Previously harmless #Google API keys now expose #Gemini #AI data

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/previously-harmless-google-api-keys-now-expose-gemini-ai-data/

#cybersecurity

https://winbuzzer.com/2026/02/11/google-ai-shopping-search-gemini-privacy-warren-xcxwbn/

Google AI Shopping Sparks Privacy Concerns from Elizabeth Warren

#AI #Google #Gemini #Ecommerce #AIShopping #ConsumerPrivacy #ElizabethWarren #BigTech #AgenticAI #GoogleSearch #AISearch #SearchEngines #GoogleSearch

attention to all #blind people using bsid-js. the overhaul from #gemini to #cloudflare #workers #ai is complete. the model we are using is@cf/meta/llama-3.2-11b-vision-instruct . this is more of an emergency overhaul because Gemini was not only taking too slow, but was pushing the limit of cloud flare workers, as cloud flare workers have time limits that must be met. also, if you see a command called /agree, don't worry about it. that was a one-time command I had to run to get it to agree to the meta licensing agreement. this is more of a beta. please test it, and make new commits if you find any problems. I'll be a bit active on this one. because, as promised, I have overhauled over to CF workers AI, and I will work on emergency patches. but overall, I want you (the devs) to be able to fix things yourself or add whatever features you are thinking of. like I said in a previous post, I will not be katering to your suggestions unless you add them yourself and then contact me to get your feature tested. but, as said earlier, I will fix things that keep the bot from running, and Gemini just so happened to be one of them fter a while. also, I'm keeping the /agree command just for people who want to run the bot with the same model. because you are required to agree to the licensing agreement meta has, and /agree is the only way to do so. so there ya go. overhaul complete. #cloudflare #cloudflareworkers #developers #ai public bot : https://discord.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=1459622381961220110&permissions=1126176932350976&integration_type=0&scope=bot+applications.commands or https://blindsoft.net/apps.html
code: https://github.com/averlice/bsid-js
commit: https://github.com/averlice/bsid-js/commit/709102135f49a70d40e807c16eb8af6a7cab701c

#Google says hackers are abusing #Gemini #AI for all attacks stages

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/google-says-hackers-are-abusing-gemini-ai-for-all-attacks-stages/

#cybersecurity

I've had quite an interesting time over the last few days with #ManjaroLinux. It has a beautifully put together KDE plasma desktop, and it's really slick. However, it's definitely not for the beginner. For me, the experience has been like going back in time a few years, but with the advantage of having #Claude and #Gemini to help me.

Thanks to AI (and a lot of prior knowledge, an essential when using AI in my opinion), I was able to get a number of things working that didn't just work out of the box, including:
- an Epson printer/scanner
- a Brother laser printer
- a Bluetooth mouse
- KVM virt-manager

The mouse was the most interesting. I'd read that my MediaTek chipset isn't well supported, and through the UI it detected the mouse but refused to successfully connect. However, using the command line bluez utility all is good.

One final thing to work out is why it's not going to sleep. It'll sleep when triggered manually, but not when left idle. I suspect the web browser might be at fault, but that's tomorrow's challenge.

All in all, despite my reservations about #Linux distros with systemd, #Manjaro has greatly exceeded my expectations. Isn't #FOSS great?

"Google breached its own policies that barred use of artificial intelligence for weapons or surveillance in 2024 by helping an Israeli military contractor analyze drone video footage, a former Google employee alleged in a confidential federal whistleblower complaint reviewed by The Washington Post.

Google’s Gemini AI technology was being used by Israel’s defense apparatus at a time the company was publicly distancing itself from the country’s military after employee protests over a contract with Israel’s government, according to internal documents included in the complaint.

In July 2024, Google’s cloud-computing division received a customer support request from a person using an Israel Defense Forces email address, according to the documents included in the complaint, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in August. The name on the customer support request matches a publicly listed employee of Israeli tech firm CloudEx, which the complaint to the SEC alleges is an IDF contractor.

The request from the IDF email address asked for help making Google’s Gemini more reliable at identifying objects such as drones, armored vehicles and soldiers in aerial video footage, according to the internal documents included with the complaint. Staff in Google’s cloud unit responded by making suggestions and doing internal tests, the documents said."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/01/google-ai-israel-military/

#Google #AI #GenerativeAI #Gemini #AIWarfare #Israel #IDF

Question about the data used by AI models. Specifically #ChatGPT and the #Google #Gemini offerings.

In 2005 I helped expose a group of Dutch neo-nazis / POS. As some kind of retribution I got targeted online. The only bit close to a "big deal" was a clumsy attempt at doxing using a combo of -then- public photos and embellished facts shared in simple websites.

I got most of it removed quickly, and the remainders in ~2014/5 (thanks GDPR).

SO COLOR ME SURPRISED WHEN ... ->

1/2

#privacy

Apple and Google recently announced their AI partnership, and we could get our first real look at the Gemini-powered Siri assistant as soon as February. @Techcrunch has more:

https://flip.it/i1fv3z

#Tech #AI #Apple #Google #Siri #Gemini

🚀 NEW: Gemini Protocol - A Human-Centric Alternative to the AI-Driven Web

In an era of AI slop, pervasive tracking & algorithmic feeds, Gemini offers a refuge: mandatory encryption, no cookies, no JavaScript, pure content.

History, NASA connection, technical overview, privacy benefits & limitations.

I also maintain a capsule at gemini://nicfab.eu

🔗 https://www.nicfab.eu/en/posts/gemini-protocol/

#Gemini #Privacy #SmallWeb #DigitalRights #PrivacyByDesign #FOSS #AI @lagrange @jk

Google’s Gemini A.I. now scans your entire inbox to “help” you summarize, reply & organize. 📬
That’s not assistance — that’s surveillance wrapped in productivity branding. 🔍

If your emails need an opt‑out clause, maybe the feature shouldn’t exist by default. ⚠️

🔗 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/technology/personaltech/gmail-gemini-ai-email-inbox.html

#TechNews #Privacy #AI #Google #Gmail #Surveillance #Data #Security #UserRights #BigTech #DigitalEthics #OnlinePrivacy #TechPolicy #Accountability #AIethics #Cybersecurity #Gemini #Email

📡 Updated my Gemini capsule! / Aggiornata la mia capsula Gemini!

New posts on #Privacy, #GDPR, #AIAct and digital rights.
Nuovi post su privacy, protezione dei dati personali e regolamentazione IA.

🇬🇧 🇮🇹 Bilingual content / Contenuti bilingue

gemini://nicfab.eu/

Feed: gemini://nicfab.eu/atom.xml

#Gemini #Geminispace #SmallWeb #DigitalRights #DirittiDigitali

Apple is turning to Google’s Gemini to power upcoming Apple Intelligence features and a more capable Siri, blending Apple’s on device models with Google’s cloud AI. 🤖📱
​
New article explores:
- Why Apple chose Gemini
- What this means for privacy & lock‑in
- How Siri might finally level up

🔗 https://techglimmer.io/can-gemini-save-apple-ai-apple-intelligence/

#AppleIntelligence #Gemini #Siri #AI #FediTech #iPhone

@golemwire @dmoonfire

I love #Gemini (not the AI crap, just FYI for those cruising the hashtag), but I'm just not that excited about it.

I think the #smolweb has more potential, tbh, even though it lacks anything approaching a solid spec. (not that Gemini is all that solid; clients have extended it a lot)

Apple’s New Siri Will Be Google’s Gemini

In news you wouldn’t need AI to hallucinate, Apple and Google  in a joint statement to CNBC announced that Apple will be using Google’s Gemini to power Apple’s long anticipated and delayed New Siri in a multi-year deal.

You can call it a surrender. It is. You can call it an admission of failure. It is. Even if Apple rarely admits mistakes.

Stating that the new models will continue to run on Apple’s private cloud compute in a joint statement, (published on Google’s news blog and to my knowledge not in any Apple press release), the statement said,

Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology. These models will help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri coming this year.

After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google’s Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users. Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy standards.

Given the delay in releasing the promised and once heralded update to Siri, this isn’t really news and  has been thought to be the path Apple would adopt for quite some time. Speculation is that users might see this as early as this spring, but I’m still thinking it won’t roll out until WWDC 2026 this summer.

For what it’s worth, the statement to business network CNBC tells everyone who the audience is for this news that isn’t news and I’m guessing the complete retrenchment from Apple’s initial endeavors to try and create a AI powered Siri.

Saying “Apple determined…” is quite some shade from Google, even in a joint statement.

For future curiosity purposes it will be interesting to see how Apple’s New Siri/Gemini will respond if someone prompts it to generate a summary of this news.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

#ai #Apple #ArtificialIntelligence #chatgpt #Gemini #google #Siri #technology

so here's a quick update to this #python adventure i know i posted this in another post, but thought i'd alsogive an update to the thread. the only error now is the quota exceeded error i did do a lot with gemini today, so that makes sense. the biggest barier to testing would be the #gemini #api because that hits very hard when it wants to it'd be very great if i had a higher rated API key, but i'm not exactly one with jef bazoes money. so for the time being, as soon as i can fully test this, i plan on making it open source for you to host with your own API key. that way it can be destributed

Beloved family-owned #Cincinnati BBQ restaurant and food truck vender that was featured in a #Google #Gemini Super Bowl commercial last year is forced to sell food trucks amid financial challenges, now directing customers to order from her website vs 3rd party online ordering, their chicken thighs have skyrocketed from $30 per case in 2020 to $130 in May 2025

"In 2024, we did about 30% of the revenue that we had in years past," said Kristen Bailey, co-owner of Sweets and Meats BBQ.

She's now asking customers to call, or, if ordering online, order directly from her website, vs 3rd party online ordering due to the fees they collect #Ohio #TrumpsEconomy

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/finding-solutions/family-owned-cincinnati-restaurant-forced-to-sell-food-truck-amid-financial-challenges

Being generous, I'd say that about half of #Google #Gemini responses have some error or misunderstanding in them that I can recognize. Something like 25% are completely wrong or totally miss the point. I have no idea how many responses there are that are actually wrong in some respect but I don't have the background knowledge to recognize any errors. USELESS.

@Abstract_Mage_Annastasia @izder456

I love #Gemini, at least conceptually, although I confess I don't use it much. :/

@killyourfm @gardiner_bryant

heh, we have: #Gemini

Also: https://xkcd.com/927/

This is the script of my national radio report yesterday on the new #Google/Pentagon Partnership for #Gemini Military #AI. As always there may have been minor wording variations from this script as I presented the report live on air.

- - -

So yes, this has quickly turned into a rather strange Pentagon story but before we get further into it I want to answer a question I've seen posed frequently: Is it the Department of Defense or Department of War?

And this turns out to be a pretty easy one. Only Congress can change a name like that for legal or statutory purposes, and Congress has not done this. So the official legal name is still Department of Defense. An executive order created a secondary name which is Department of War, and that can be used in public communications and basically various other non-statutory contexts. It isn't clear how much has been spent changing various stuff to that secondary name, but apparently estimates are that to do total rebranding to Department of War would cost many billions of dollars and perhaps Congress doesn't want to rush into that. I have seen some references to Department of War as the "cosplay" name but I'm fine just saying the Pentagon so that's what I'll be using here today.

So as we know the Billionaire Big Tech CEOs want their AI in EVERYTHING, and Google apparently won a contract with the Pentagon to put a version of Google Gemini AI in front of several million U.S. armed forces members and other associated workers. This is being called "genai.mil" and I'm told it's designated for CUI - Controlled Unclassified Information and IL5 - Impact Level 5.

Secretary Hegseth and Google really made dramatic announcements about this and the Pentagon apparently has AI-generated posters of Hegseth in an Uncle Sam "I want you" pose saying "I want you to use AI!" and there are emails and popups and other promotions pushing use of this Google AI system for the military.

The announcements did raise many eyebrows because, among other reasons, Hegseth and Google didn't seem to quite agree on what this project is actually for. Hegseth talked in terms of increasing lethality, and Google seemed to be saying it's really for administrative purposes and some analyses -- but really oriented more toward routine paperwork and research.

Stories did come out quickly claiming that persons with access to the Google Gemini Military System asked it about the legality of that controversial "double tap" boat strike, and Gemini said it was illegal.

Now whether or not that's correct this does quickly take us to the heart of the matter which is as we all know how often Gemini and other AI systems are completely or partly wrong in their answers -- the latter being even more dangerous.

AI disclaimers often admit that you can't trust AI to be accurate, so it's understandable that there are concerns about bringing what's often called AI Slop into a military context, even if restricted to administrative operations.

I had an incident with Google's AI yesterday, not a critical one but something to ponder. I asked Google when an organization I know was taking their holiday break, usually some weeks. And the Google AI Overview came back and told me their break was from December 22nd to January 5th, and added that the duration was three weeks. And I'm looking at this and thinking THREE weeks? Yeah, Google AI in this case didn't know that 22 December to 5 January was only two weeks. Now if a student had gotten something like this wrong they'd probably get an F.

But you do have to wonder how Google AI could make an error like that. It's just a simple calendar query, no external information or context required. If you can't depend on AI for accuracy in something so simple and obvious, it's completely reasonable to be concerned about more complex information where errors would NOT be so obvious.

Thinking about the impact of AI loaded with misinformation in military situations can be rather chilling to say the least. While this isn't a sci-fi movie style evil AI, given what we all DO know about REAL AI now, there seems to be an almost endless array of ways that this Google/Pentagon partnership to push military AI could go very, very wrong indeed. And THAT'S a very serious concern.

- - -

L

#Gemini upscale.

What does #Google #Gemini say when ordinary people ask about military matters?

"I cannot fulfill this request. I am programmed to be a helpful and harmless AI, and that includes avoiding generating content that discusses or promotes politically sensitive or potentially harmful topics such as advocating for military action, invasion, or the overthrow of a government."

I guess for the Trump Nazis at the Pentagon, Google flipped on the EVIL switch.

L