Gemini privacy policy changes: every Bard and Gemini notice since 2023

The Morse teamPublished November 6, 202614 min read

Gemini privacy policy changes add up to at least 17 dated versions of one notice, from Bard's first Privacy Notice on July 11, 2023 to the Gemini Apps Privacy Notice last updated October 13, 2026. Through all of them, Google's pages have kept three rules: Google's human reviewers read a sample of chats, the chats they review are kept for up to three years even after you delete your activity, and turning your activity setting off still leaves each chat with your account for 72 hours. Around them, Google changed which apps Gemini can read, who the defaults apply to, what the activity setting is called, and what it promised about your Gmail and Drive.

On November 6, 2026, we read the current Gemini Apps Privacy Hub and Google's help pages on Keep Activity, connected apps, and children's accounts. Google keeps no archive of the Gemini notice, so for every earlier version we read copies of Google's own Privacy Hub saved by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, one per month from July 2023 to October 2026, and compared each new version with the one before it, sentence by sentence. Each archived copy is labeled "archived" below. A version that came and went within a single month could be missing from our count. We also read every version of Google's main Privacy Policy that mentions Bard or Gemini, which Google does keep on its own site.

Google deserves credit for one thing. Bard's first notice said how long reviewed chats are kept, and every version since has kept that number.

When did Google change Gemini's privacy policy?

The notice itself has at least 17 dated versions, the first in July 2023, plus changes to the Privacy Hub's questions and to Google's main Privacy Policy that changed what Gemini can do with your data. The table lists each one we found.

What the current rules mean for you day to day, setting by setting, is in is Gemini private. This page is about how they got there.

What did Bard's first privacy notice say?

Most of what Gemini's notice says today about review and retention. The Bard Privacy Notice dated July 11, 2023 stored your Bard activity "for up to 18 months" by default, with 3 or 36 months as options. It said human reviewers "read, annotate, and process your Bard conversations" after Google disconnects them from your account, and that reviewed conversations "are not deleted when you delete your Bard activity" but "are retained for up to three years." With Bard Activity off, conversations were "saved with your account for up to 72 hours" (archived Google page).

When Bard became Gemini in February 2024, Gizmodo reported the three-year retention under a "new privacy notice for Gemini." The notice was new, but the rule was already seven months old. As of November 6, 2026, the current notice still says reviewed chats "are retained for up to three years" (Google).

The advice to users did change. The July 2023 notice asked you not to include "information that can be used to identify you or others." The September 18, 2023 version replaced it with the wording Google still uses: don't enter "confidential information" or "any data you wouldn't want a reviewer to see." Google's main Privacy Policy of July 1, 2023 is where Bard first appears in Google's legal pages, in a sentence about training on "publicly available information." The December 2022 version had said "language models" and named only Google Translate.

What changed when Bard became Gemini?

The name of the setting, and what Gemini could see on your phone. Google announced on February 8, 2024 that "Bard is now known as Gemini," with an Android app. The notice dated the same day renamed Bard Activity to Gemini Apps Activity and added a section for people who switch from Google Assistant to Gemini. As your phone's assistant, it said, Gemini collects "contacts, alarms, events, installed apps, smart home device names, notifications, playlists," and if you used Assistant for calls or texts in the previous 90 days, those requests "will be imported from your Web & App Activity to your Gemini Apps Activity" (archived Google page). Google's main Privacy Policy swapped "Bard" for "Gemini Apps" in a version dated the same day.

The May 29, 2024 version widened the phone list to "dialer, call and message logs" and "screen content (to help you act on it)," and said for the first time what turning off the setting does: "To stop future conversations from being reviewed or used to improve Google machine-learning technologies, turn off Gemini Apps Activity" (archived Google page). The February 12, 2025 version deleted a sentence that had been there since the Gemini rename: Google processes your voice when you speak to Gemini, "but by default, this info is not saved to Google servers" (archived Google page). What Gemini Live keeps today is covered in is Gemini Live private.

What changed for Android users in July 2025?

Turning off Gemini Apps Activity stopped switching off Gemini's phone apps. An archived copy of the Privacy Hub from July 6, 2025 says that if you turn the setting off, "apps are disabled" (archived Google page). A copy from July 8 adds a new sentence: "Some connected apps such as Phone, Messages, WhatsApp and Utilities are available whether Gemini Apps Activity is on or off," while Google Workspace stays unavailable (archived Google page). Both copies show the hub's "Last updated" date as June 11, 2025, so the date at the top didn't move when this text did.

The current hub keeps the rule, now for Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, and Device assistance (Google). To switch those connections off on your phone, see how to turn off Gemini on Android.

When did Gemini Apps Activity become Keep Activity?

In September 2025. Google's August 13, 2025 announcement said "Gemini Apps Activity" would be renamed "Keep Activity" in the coming weeks, launched temporary chats kept "for up to 72 hours," and turned on Gemini's memory of your past chats by default for users over 18 in some countries. It also said that with the setting on, a sample of uploads submitted "starting September 2, 2025" may be used to improve Google services.

The notice dated September 2, 2025 was a full rewrite, and the new name is only part of it (archived Google page):

• A carve-out from your settings. For the first time, the notice said "The settings in Gemini Apps Activity don't control processing of your chats to create anonymized data to improve Google services."
• Review with the setting off. "When your Keep Activity setting is off, Google still uses your chats to respond to you and help keep Gemini safe and secure, including with help from human reviewers." The January 30, 2026 version widened "keep Gemini safe and secure" to "protect Google, our users, and the public."
• Data kept for the life of your account. "We keep some data until you delete your Google Account, such as information about how often you use Gemini Apps."
• The age rules left the notice. The lines on who gets the setting on by default were deleted. Google's Keep Activity help page now carries the adult rule: "If you're 18 or over, Keep Activity is on by default."

The setting's page in your Google Account is still called Gemini Apps Activity, so both names appear in Google's help pages today. Our guide to deleting Gemini history walks through it under either name.

Can teens and children use Gemini, and what changed for them?

Teens since November 2023, and children under 13 since at least May 2025, with different defaults. Google said on November 15, 2023 that it would open Bard "to teenagers in most countries around the world" the next day, with onboarding that gives teens "the option to turn it on or off." The notice dated November 16 limited the 18-month default to people "18 or older." By May 29, 2024 it said "Users under 18 can choose to turn it on."

The May 20, 2025 version added children: "If you're under 13 (or the applicable age in your country) and Gemini Apps is available to you, Gemini Apps Activity is off" (archived Google page). That line left the notice in the September 2025 rewrite. As of November 6, 2026, it lives on Google's Family Link help page, which says "The Keep Activity setting is not available to users under 13" and that a parent turns on access through Family Link. The current notice says nothing about the default for 13 to 17 year olds.

What happened to Google's promise about Gmail and Drive?

It's gone. When Bard Extensions launched, the September 18, 2023 hub said your personal content from Google Workspace was "Not allowed to be accessed or reviewed by human reviewers" and "Not used to improve generative machine learning technologies that power Bard" (archived Google page). The same promise, reworded for Gemini, was still in the hub in an archived copy from December 1, 2025.

Then it changed twice in about a month. An archived copy from January 1, 2026 adds four words to the first line: "except for safety and security purposes" (archived Google page). By February 1, after Google launched Personal Intelligence on January 14, 2026, the list was gone (archived Google page).

Google's connected apps page, read November 6, 2026, says Gemini now trains on summaries, excerpts, and inferences from your emails and files, though not on the inbox itself. What connected apps share with Gemini today is in is Gemini private. To unhook Gmail, see how to turn off Gemini in Gmail.

What changed in Gemini's privacy policy in 2026?

Six notice versions took effect, plus a Privacy Hub change and a change to Google's main policy. Apart from February 18, which added only "music," they're mostly about what Gemini reaches beyond the chat box:

1. January 30. The notice covers Gemini "while signed in," and signed-out use falls under Google's main Privacy Policy instead.
2. March 27. "Imported chats" from other AI apps join the data Google collects and can be deleted from your activity. Google announced chat and memory imports the same day, in a regional post.
3. April 29, Privacy Hub. The March hub said Gemini personalizes from your past chats "Outside of the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK." The April 29 hub drops that limit (archived Google page).
4. May 19. Gemini now does tasks for you, so the notice collects "Information about steps our technologies take to do tasks for you or respond to your prompts, like model thinking steps," and warns that "Gemini can make mistakes, like making purchases or sharing your data with third parties unexpectedly."
5. June 29. Third-party tools join Connected Apps, including "Model Context Protocol server tools," with the warning that "Google does not monitor or secure data from custom third-party Connected Apps."
6. October 13. The version in force on November 6, 2026. It swaps "Location History" for "Timeline" and adds Search Services History as a source for calling and texting history.

Google's main Privacy Policy changed on October 16, 2026 to say you can let "Search or Gemini Apps" access data from "Google Photos and Workspace apps like Gmail and Drive." What that change lets Google do with your Gmail is covered in does Google use Gmail for ads.

The "no ads" line has kept the same wording, apart from the product's name, since September 2023: "Your Gemini Apps chats are not being used to show you ads. If this changes, we will clearly communicate it to you."

Where can you read old Gemini privacy notices?

Only in the Wayback Machine. As of November 6, 2026, the Privacy Hub shows the current notice, dated October 13, 2026, with no link to earlier versions and no summary of what changed. Bard's old address forwards to the Gemini page. Google's main Privacy Policy has an archive that keeps every version back to 1999, with a comparison page for each change.

The hub also carries three dates. On November 6, 2026, the page said "Last updated: October 26, 2026" at the top, the notice said October 13, 2026, and the questions section said October 26, 2026. The questions section changes more often, and it's where the July 2025 Android change and the 2026 memory change appeared. Neither moved the notice's date. OpenAI and Anthropic keep most or all of their old versions on their own sites, as our histories of OpenAI's and Anthropic's policies found.

How Morse keeps Gemini's next rewrite away from your chats

Most rows in the table changed the rules for activity already sitting in a Google Account: chats, uploads, call history imported from Assistant, and summaries of your email. Each new version applies to what's already stored, and reviewed copies stay for up to three years whatever you delete. Morse is built so your chat history isn't kept on our servers at all. It's stored in your browser, encrypted, and our servers don't keep your messages or log what you write.

There's no 18-month history on our servers for a new version to cover. There's no training setting to rename or carve exceptions from, because Morse doesn't train AI on your content. Morse doesn't sell your data or show ads, and because we don't store chats, we usually have very little to give authorities.

You pick a privacy mode for each chat:

• Anonymous, to ask Gemini with no Google Account behind the question. Gemini is one of the proprietary models in this mode. Our proxy removes your account, email, and IP address and sends the message under Morse's own account. Google sees the message without knowing it's you, and may keep it for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy, which can change like the versions above. Leave out names and details that point back to you.
• Private, the default, for questions no host should keep. Open-weight models like DeepSeek, Kimi, and GLM, plus xAI's Grok, run here. Morse has zero data retention agreements with its inference, search, and other providers, so they keep nothing. Where a provider confirms zero retention on each reply, Morse checks it and refuses a reply that doesn't.
• E2EE, for anything no one should read. Your browser checks the secure enclave's hardware attestation before anything leaves your device, then encrypts the message so only that enclave can read it. Our servers relay ciphertext they can't read. It rests on the enclave hardware and attestation working as designed, and runs open-weight models only. E2EE chats come with Pro, at $19 a month.

Your history locks when you sign out, and opening it takes two keys, one of which never leaves your device. Temporary chats are kept in memory only. Clearing your browser deletes your chats, and Morse can't recover them, so keep a copy of anything you'll need. What the account holds is in the Morse privacy policy.

Send a first message from the Morse home page without an account, or start free with 15 messages a day and no card.