Google continues to integrate the Gemini artificial intelligence into its ecosystem, and now it concerns the most personal data — your photos. The flagship Google Photos app has acquired a new Ask Photos feature, which has replaced the standard search with intelligent analysis. Now the neural network scans all your media files to find the desired shots based on complex queries.
For example, if you enter "cars", the AI will analyze the entire gallery over the years and instantly show photos with vehicles. Similar algorithms help create automatic collages and edit photos. But for many users, this means that the AI continuously browses their personal archives, faces of loved ones, and geotags.
Google's Privacy Center assures that personal photos are not used for advertising or training global AI. Analysis takes place only within the app for the convenience of a specific user. However, if you do not like the very idea of algorithms interacting with your files, this feature can be disabled.
How to Disable Gemini in Google Photos
To regain control over your data, follow these simple steps:
- Open the Google Photos app on your smartphone.
- Go to profile settings.
- Find the "Gemini Tools" section and turn them off.
For those who want to completely abandon Google Cloud, there are local alternatives for Android, such as Aves or Fossify. For high-quality photo processing without AI tracking, experts recommend the free editor Affinity.
However, switching platforms is not so easy if you have accumulated terabytes of family archives. Specialists remind: if you simply delete the app and stop using it, Google will not delete your photos immediately. The company will clean up an abandoned account only after two years of inactivity and only if you have exceeded the free storage limit. Therefore, if you decide to switch, you will have to spend time uploading a copy of the archive and manually deleting your data from the cloud.
