@Tutanota And the best bit, for me at least, they'll be "learning" things about me based on the other A Ruthven's that incorrectly use my email address.

@Tutanota I stay telling everyone I know to get off GMail and go to Tuta. And if you’re reading this and “considering it,” definitely do it. Make the move today.

I also suggest to start doing everything in the Opt Out Project’s Cyber Cleanse Guide today! The start of the new month is a great time to align your journey of taking back your data with the guide.

https://www.optoutproject.net/the-cyber-cleanse-take-back-your-digital-footprint/

@Tutanota
and folks need to understand,
this is a big problem even for folks that dont have an google account.

Anytime you send something TO someone with a gmail address you are exposing yourself to the bigCorp email surveillance.

Also look for way to communicate with them without email. Even calling them in real life.:-)

If you get an email from them, reply by voice, ask them if it was really them setting up a party or what ever.:-)

@Tutanota & Vee, yes, I took care of that about 3 weeks ago on my laptop & on my Android phone. All safe, allegedly.

@Tutanota It makes sense to train ai on publicly available posts (I disagree with any force automatic AI data training but it makes more sense then on personal private emails)

I do believe that there will eventually be laws passed to stop this because this would also affect the privacy of corporations. So people in power would be against this seemingly including politicians of email ai scanning. I don't thing it will legally last long.

@Tutanota Thanks for the heads-up. While automated scans for features like smart replies or spam protection have been around for years, it's definitely a good reminder for everyone to audit their Google Workspace privacy settings.

@Tutanota Turning this off is great, but if you care about privacy you shouldn't be using **any** Google products at all...

@Tutanota I would say let's move on to Proton Mail or A/I (the latter has been considered a terrorist group by the USA, but in my opinion and I believe in all of our opinions privacy and freedom are not crimes)."

Many enduring names for geographical places preserve native languages, such as Ontari'io (meaning "the lake is great/beautiful"), which predates modern borders.

Fatty wouldn't know about such things.

Fatty is a div.

@Tutanota If a service needs this kind of steps, it's only a matter of time before the option is taken away. There's plenty of sites that started with it being optional (but default on) for the user content to be used for AI training. Then it disappeared either completely or behind some paid tiers.

@Tutanota ha ha ha the number of elite worshipping morons who pretended google was a charity without any ulterior motives giving users tons of storage when gmail first started...

@Tutanota Google does use automated systems to process Gmail content for things like spam, security, and some AI features, but that doesn’t necessarily mean someone is sitting there reading your tax or medical documents

Don't worry about it

@Tutanota If they’d do that with paper information (opening your envelopes and reading all that’s inside) that would probably be a crime. Why do governments allow that in the digital realm? This shouldn’t be allowed at all! It’s amazing how there are two sets of rules depending if it’s physical or digital.

@Tutanota do you mean there was a point when they DIDN'T scan emails? It sounds like they simply upgraded their tools. Well, "upgraded"

@Tutanota Though I have to say anyone who still uses a Gmail account in 2026 really has no grounds to feign surprise or outrage.

@Tutanota they might use AI to stitch together results, but it’s been doing it for a decade , as I suspect you know .

@Tutanota Google also commandeers 4GB of your computer's hard drive without your consent to install a local component of Gemini. When you uninstall it, it REINSTALLS with a Chrome update.

Just stop using Chrome. Use LibreWolf or something.

@Tutanota thank you

@Tutanota Was there supposed to be a link to instructions on those five moves?

@Tutanota Yeah, I'm disconnecting from Google as much as I can. Spent a chunk of last night disconnecting Google from other web accounts and apps.

Renaming Lake Ontario to appease Trump on Google Maps was the immediate impetus, so this spurs me on further.

Anyone know a good substitute for online spreadsheets? I can move text documents to Ellipsus and local storage.

@Tutanota Was this not the business model of GMail from day one?

@Tutanota My psychologist uses gmail this is awesome to know! I love big corporations and their excessive greed <3 !

@Tutanota @Andy__

@Tutanota could you source your information ?

@Tutanota Who the heck sends bank statements by email?!! 🤦

1. The Main Switch

This is the main setting Google shows you, but it's not the only one.
Gmail (Desktop):
⚙️ Settings → See all settings → Smart features and personalization → Uncheck "Turn on smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet" → Save Changes.