Google installed Gemini on my devices, disabling Google Assistant and replacing it with Gemini.
A few weeks ago, I explicitly disabled it everywhere I could find within account.google.com and I've not used anything gemini since. Now I get this email and find it enabled on my devices.
By default Gemini has permissions to access everything on screen, view your contacts/messages, and can be used from the lockscreen....
I'm not all that surprised; but I'm still annoyed. Especially with the opt-out of data collection/access after it's been given access to everything.
It makes the former possible but you still meed to keep up on privacy hygiene. Check out privacyguides.org to help you with that. Privacy is a spectrum, so the trick is finding where you want to be and assesing what you have to sacrifice to do so.
Security is the priority, but that does usually give you a good amount of privacy too.
One example I remember where there was a clash was developing their sandboxed Google Play Services rather than supporting MicroG. I think their reasoning was that sandboxing the Google code makes it much more secure, and even though MicroG is more private from Google it's still a mystery blob with full access to your device and therefore less secure.
This is the way. I resisted doing a custom ROM based on past experience, but GrapheneOS is absolutely worth it.
The day I saw Gemini in the text messaging app is the day I bit the bullet. Wish I did it sooner
Step 1. Reconsider your chosen birthplace. Choose another location with consumer protection.
Step 2. Restart your life.
Step 3. If the restart life option is not available on your plan, contact support. Location transfer options are available but terms and conditions of port outs have changed recently.