🚨Google GEMS Privacy Warning
Privacy Warning for Entrepreneurs Using Google’s New Super Gems (Opal) If you’re excited about Google’s new “Super Gems” and Opal (and I for one am), hit the brakes for a second - especially if you run a business or handle client data. Here’s what most people are missing: Opal is not covered by the Gemini Apps privacy protections you may think you’re relying on. Google explicitly states that Opal is “not a part of Gemini Apps,” that your Opal data “does not appear in your Gemini Apps Activity,” and that it is not controlled by Gemini’s Workspace-connected app settings. The dedicated Gemini Apps Privacy Notice does not apply to Opal; instead, your Opal data is governed only by the general Google Privacy Policy.[1][2][3] For entrepreneurs, that means all the safer defaults and admin controls you might be counting on inside Workspace/Gemini do not protect what you do inside Opal. Opal asks for extremely broad access to your Google Drive. When you accept, you’re giving Opal permission to “see and download all your Google Drive files” and to “create, edit, and delete” the specific files you use with the experience. Full-Drive scope like this typically allows an app to read every document, sheet, and file in your Drive, including items shared with you by others.[4][5][1] If your main Google account contains client docs, strategy decks, financials, SOPs, or anything sensitive, you’re effectively opening the door for this experimental system to see all of it. Anyone with access to certain Opal-powered apps can access the saved data in those apps. Google’s own documentation explains that for user-created “Canvas” style mini-apps, the app creator can see the data you input and can store it where they choose (for example, in Firebase or other storage), and that “anyone with the public link can also view and edit data saved with the app.”[2][6] So if you’re using a public or shared Opal app to process client info, sales data, or internal workflows, understand this: