The latest in a spate of lawsuits targeting AI tools, a new putative class action filed in the Northern District of California alleges that tech giant Google activated its Gemini AI features across its portfolio of services without obtaining user consent, in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”).
According to the complaint, Google previously offered Gemini “Smart features” as an opt-in tool, but allegedly switched this setting on for all Gmail, Chat, and Meet accounts on or around October 10, 2025, enabling its AI to track users’ private communications in those platforms without knowledge or consent in violation of CIPA Section 632, which prohibits the recording of confidential communications without consent. The filing states that Google tracks these private communications with Gemini by default, requiring users to affirmatively find this data privacy setting and shut it off, despite never “agreeing” to such AI tracking in the first place. The complaint alleges that despite this setting being in default “opt out” status since October 10, the setting is still worded as an “opt in” feature: “When you turn this setting on, you agree . . .” According to the complaint, this renders the privacy settings offered by Google effectively meaningless.
The plaintiff, Thomas Thele, alleges he did not turn on this setting, was not notified of the change, and did not consent to the collection or analysis of information contained in his communications. While Thele does not identify the precise Gmail, Chat, and/or Meet communications that he sent or received with the “Smart features” setting turned on, the complaint identifies the categories of information that could allegedly be derived from these communications, including financial records, employment information, medical information, political and religious affiliations, the identities of family members and contacts, and social habits and activities,.
Plaintiff purports to represent the following potentially massive class: “All natural persons residing in the United States with Google accounts whose private communications in Gmail, Chat, and/or Meet were tracked by Google’s Gemini AI after Google turned on “Smart features” in those persons’ data privacy account settings.”
In response to viral social media posts accusing Google of automatically opting Gmail users into AI model training through its “smart features,” Google has issued a statement refuting claims that it uses Gmail content to train the Gemini AI model. However, the sufficiency and truth of Plaintiff Thele’s allegations are yet to be tested. We’ll keep a close eye on this one.
The case is Thele v. Google, LLC, No. 5:25-CV-09704 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 11, 2025).
CIPAWorld 