Google just shook off a privacy lawsuit that accused it of letting its Gemini AI silently rummage through users’ Gmail, Google Chat, and Google Meet data. The case, Thele v. Google LLC, was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California and alleged that Google flipped a switch on its “Smart Features” setting without bothering to ask anyone first.
The lawsuit was brought by Thomas Thele on November 11, 2025, targeting what the complaint described as a stealth transition: Google allegedly enabled its AI-powered Smart Features by default on October 10, 2025, giving Gemini access to analyze private communications across its suite of products. The plaintiffs argued this violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act, or CIPA, along with other privacy statutes.
What the lawsuit actually alleged
The complaint in Thele v. Google alleged that Google exploited user inertia by toggling Smart Features to “on” without explicit consent, allegedly starting to let its AI read emails and chat messages by changing a setting most people would never notice existed.
The plaintiffs claimed this constituted unauthorized access to private communications. Under CIPA, intercepting or monitoring electronic communications without consent can carry significant legal consequences.
