• Leon@pawb.socialEnglish
    9 months

    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.

    • r00ty@kbin.life
      9 months

      This is my assumption too. It’s disabled for me. I have no plans to change that.

    • Maestro@fedia.io
      9 months

      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

    • FelixCress@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9 months

      Exactly. It is an odd advice - disable something you had to install first just to disable?

        • atrielienz@lemmy.worldEnglish
          9 months

          In the case of my fully updated pixel 9 pro XL, Gemini was installed from the factory. I uninstalled it and installed Google Assistant. It has not re-installed itself for me, and further, I would recommend that if you don’t use Gemini, you uninstall it.

          This may change once the July patch hits but. As of right now it’s not currently installed.

          • Clanket@lemmy.worldEnglish
            9 months

            It must be an Android update as that’s all I ever do, and I never installed Gemini. I just checked and it was there, with permissions to access WhatsApp and multiple other apps. I just removed all the permissions and disabled the app. We’ll see if any future updates turn it back on.

            Shhhhhneeeeeky bastards.

            • herrvogel@lemmy.worldEnglish
              9 months

              Pro tip: you can probably uninstall Gemini via ADB. Android won’t let you uninstall it using your phone’s UI, but since it’s just another package you can probably use the old ADB tricks to wipe it from your phone. Use your favorite search engine to figure out how, it’s not exactly a secret.

  • slowbyrne@lemmy.zipEnglish
    9 months

    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.

    • Novaling@lemmy.zipEnglish
      9 months

      The whole reason GrapheneOS develops only for Pixels is that you can relock the bootloader though, right? (Along with other security features)

      Anyway yeah companies still suck for not letting you relock them.

      • slowbyrne@lemmy.zipEnglish
        9 months

        I don’t believe that’s a pixel specific benefit but yes relocking the bootloader is best for security. The unlocking process is needed to install an alternative OS though.

  • Ansis100@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9 months

    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.

  • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9 months

    Don’t go and manually install it.

    The misinformation about this has been wild.

      • salamandermander@lemmings.worldEnglish
        9 months

        The Gemini app. I can’t uninstall it from my phone but I have it disabled. Not sure if Google’s other account access and apps on my phone are going to still feed into Gemini.

        • Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pubEnglish
          9 months

          If your phone is unaltered in any way, absolutely nothing you do on it is private, even turned off.

          Sweating over one app when your entire phone is the posterboy for spyware? lol

          • xep@fedia.io
            9 months

            Why are you being downvoted for this? In stock devices the user has no way to even start looking at what is being run. All you can do is trust the manufacturer.

            • starman2112@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              9 months

              Because it’s worth plugging up some privacy holes even if you can’t get all of them. Google already knows my name, address, and phone number, but that’s no reason to let 5th Edition Character Sheet learn it too. They already have gigabytes of personally identifiable data on me, doesn’t mean I want them storing terabytes of it.