this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2025
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since yesterday.. oop: https://mathstodon.xyz/@johncarlosbaez/114816283089805862

article: https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/07/unless-users-take-action-android-will-let-gemini-access-third-party-apps/

haven't found a public google announcement, the screenshot seems to be from emails

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

I have all of these settings off, but it's still summarizing my emails and offering to add it to my calendar because there are no conflicting events.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Wrong. There is no AI agent on my Pixel 8 Pro running GrapheneOS.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

I was quite happy still running my Samsung S22, then all this shit started to get rammed in (plus Samsung keyboard was constantly pasting my clipboard even though I wasn't using it).

Anyway, I bought a Pixel 9 explicitly for GrapheneOS - the installation was so incredibly easy I was really surprised.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago

Graphene FTW

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

Is the Pixel 3 old enough that I'm out of range of this bullshit?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago

Just goes to show how EULAs are nonensical legalese and as such unenforceable in and by any (sane) court.

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

Feed The Google AI. Starve the old beast, feed the new. Mbas raise gremlins.

[–] [email protected] 65 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Op please change the title as to not further fuel the misinformation. Arstechnica seems to enjoy burying the actual information 3 paragraphs in where they know nobody will read them and your embellishments aren't helping.

  1. There's nothing anywhere that suggests the ai is "remote controlled".

  2. Arstechnica suggests that humans have access to the data and as evidence they linked a site saying humans don't have access.

  3. Ars seems to want us to think the red rectangles in the image are contradictory. They aren't as Gemini Apps can be individually turned off independent of Gemini Apps Activity (history) and vice versa. The forced 3 day activity storage doesn't enable the apps themselves.

  4. Even the author of the article pointed out that it can be turned off

  5. Ars cites Tuta's article selectively to make it sound like disabling gemini is either ineffective or complicated. Tuta itself is a privacy focused gmail alternative with vested interest to muddy the waters but their article is still somewhat better written than Ars'

Edit: Title when this comment was written for posterity:

there is a remote controlled ai agent on every google device that can not be turned off

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

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.

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

So, what this seems to be saying, and what is reflected in the settings screens I can access on devices I have at hand, is that Gemini will still have (limited) functionality hooking jnto certain apps even if you've disabled "Gemini App history".

~~The app is being pushed through normal updates via Google Play (by your carrier or Google itself). In some cases the app can be uninstalled by the end user through the normal UI, and in other cases it installs as a system app and requires adb to be used to disable and/or uninstall it.~~

EDIT: FALSE, GOOGLE HAS NOT PUSHED THE APP OUT YET, JUST A SETTINGS PAGE

As always, the most secure way to use android is through a custom locked down ROM like Graphene OS.

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