Google’s new Daily Brief for Gemini is both cool and creepy, but up until recently, it was locked behind a paid subscription, away from the masses. Months later, the data-devouring feature is now available for everybody. Here’s how to make sure it isn’t already gobbling up your private data.
Daily Brief is a relatively new feature built into the Google Gemini app. Every morning, it scours through the information saved in your Google apps to surface a daily agenda of tasks, reminders, and events custom-tailored for you.
Once Daily Brief is enabled, Gemini can dig through everyone’s Google apps in search of relevant information.
When I tested Daily Brief earlier this year, I found it paradoxical. For those in the Google ecosystem, it can be a handy tool to remember things you otherwise forgot — a birthday for a loved one, to follow up on an email you sent the other day, to dig deeper into a topic you searched on Google. If you’re not an avid Google user, though, it’s mostly useless.
The more data Gemini can gather from your Google apps, the better the brief. At the same time, the more data it has, the more Google learns about you to feed into its AI machine.
Since Daily Brief is part of the Gemini core experience, it isn’t exclusive to Google’s Pixel phone series or even Android. It’s available on iOS and the web too, expanding its reach to cover practically any user with a Google account. The goal, of course, is to get you to rely on Gemini so that Google can pull you into its broader AI platform and away from the likes of ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok.
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Like many Gemini features, Daily Brief started as a paid perk back in May, and now it’s available to the masses for free. That means, once Daily Brief is enabled, Gemini can dig through everyone’s Google apps in search of relevant – i.e., private and personal – information, free of charge.
So it is already digging through your data right now?
In a word, no. Google made the right choice when it locked Daily Brief behind a manual setup process, so unless something went terribly wrong, the feature should be disabled on your account by default. However, if you’re curious about the feature, or if you want to ensure it’s actually turned off so it can’t gobble up your data, you might still want to confirm if it’s on or off.
To check how Daily Brief is configured, open the Gemini app on Android, iOS, or the web. Using the mobile version as a reference, tap on your profile picture in the top right corner. On the next page, choose “Personal Intelligence.” At the bottom, find “Daily brief.”
Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw/Android 17 on Google Pixel 10 Pro XL
To make sure Gemini can’t scan through your Google app data for future briefs, uncheck the toggle switch so that it’s grayed out. On the flip side, if you want to try Daily Brief and see what it’s all about, check the toggle so that it lights up blue.
Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw/Android 17 on Google Pixel 10 Pro XL
For those who don’t want to use Daily Brief, that’s all you need to do. It’s officially turned off, and it won’t dig through your data going forward.
For those who turned it on, go back to the first screen in the Gemini app. Next, tap the hamburger menu in the top left and select “Daily Brief” from the slide-out section. Here is where your Daily Briefs will live on your device.
Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw/Android 17 on Google Pixel 10 Pro XL
Every morning, you will receive a notification with a new brief for tasks you need to accomplish today and throughout the rest of the week. If you don’t want to receive notifications, tap on the three dots in the top right corner, and uncheck the notifications switch. This way, your Daily Brief is still ready and accessible every morning, but your phone won’t nag you to open it.
Whether you wish to keep Daily Brief enabled for its useful features or disabled for the sake of privacy, the choice is ultimately up to you. It’s easy enough to adjust the setting if you change your mind.
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Ai, Android, Data, Gemini, Google, Ios, Privacy, Tech
