Gemini conversations can be reviewed by humans and used to improve Google's models, and activity is tied to your Google account. Retention can persist even after you delete chats.
The clauses that could affect you the most. Read these even if you skip everything else.
Google gets a broad, royalty-free license to your content including the right to sublicense it to others and use it for promotional purposes.
Google can suspend or terminate your account and remove content with limited or no prior notice, which could mean losing access to email, documents, photos, and other critical data.
Google can unilaterally change or discontinue any service or feature, and can modify the terms themselves β your only recourse is to leave the platform entirely.
You cannot use AI-generated content from Google services to build competing models, effectively restricting how you use outputs you paid for or created.
For business users, Google's liability is capped at just β¬500 or 125% of fees paid, excluding all indirect and consequential damages.
Browse what the terms actually say β filter by severity or by topic.
Broad royalty-free content license
πClaims your contentπ¬ You give Google a free, global license to use any content you create or upload. While it's non-exclusive (you keep ownership), the breadth of this license means Google can do a lot with your stuff without paying you.
βUsers grant Google a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use content protected by intellectual property or immaterial rights.β
Sublicensing rights to third parties
πClaims your contentπ¬ Google can pass along the rights to your content to other users and to its contractors, meaning your content could be used by parties you never directly agreed to share with.
βSublicense rights to other users and contractorsβ
License to modify your content
πClaims your contentπ¬ Google can change your content's format or translate it. While the examples given are benign, the modification right is broadly stated.
βModify content (reformatting, translating)β
Content used for promotion
πClaims your contentπ¬ Google can use your content to promote its own services publicly, meaning your photos, reviews, or other uploads could appear in Google advertising or marketing materials.
βPromoting services publiclyβ
Delayed content removal
ποΈData retentionπ¬ When you delete content, it doesn't disappear immediately. Google keeps it for an undefined 'reasonable' period, and content you previously shared or that was indexed by search engines may persist even longer.
βRemoved content becomes unavailable "in a reasonable amount of time," with exceptions for previously shared content and search engine indexing.β
Prohibition on reverse engineering
πOtherπ¬ You cannot reverse engineer any of Google's services or AI/ML models. This is a standard tech industry restriction but limits security researchers and interoperability efforts.
βReverse engineering services or machine learning modelsβ
Ban on using AI outputs for competing models
π€AI training on your dataπ¬ You are prohibited from using any AI-generated content from Google's services (like Gemini outputs) to train or develop competing AI models. This locks you into Google's ecosystem and restricts how you can use content generated for you.
βUsing AI-generated content to develop competing machine learning modelsβ
Google can change or discontinue services
πCan change terms anytimeπ¬ Google reserves the right to change, limit, or completely discontinue any service at any time. Features you rely on could be removed, and usage limits you depend on could be reduced.
βAdd or remove features and functionalities Increase or decrease usage limits Offer new services or discontinue existing onesβ
Emergency changes without notice
πCan change terms anytimeπ¬ While Google generally promises advance notice of changes, they can make changes without any warning if they claim it's related to abuse prevention or security β terms that are broadly defined.
βUsers receive "reasonable advance notice by email" of significant changes, except in urgent situations involving abuse prevention or security threats.β
Liability capped for business users
π‘οΈLimits their liabilityπ¬ If you're a business user and Google causes you harm, the most you can recover is β¬500 or 125% of what you paid them in the last year β whichever is greater. Indirect damages like lost profits are excluded entirely. For free services, that cap could be as low as β¬500.
βFor business users: Google limits liability to greater of β¬500 or 125% of fees paid in preceding 12 months, excluding unforeseeable losses and indirect/consequential damages.β
Broad suspension/termination rights
βAccount terminationπ¬ Google can suspend or terminate your account for a wide range of reasons including vaguely defined 'harmful conduct.' Since many people rely on Google for email, documents, photos, and more, losing access could be devastating.
βGoogle may suspend/terminate access for material/repeated breaches, legal compliance, or objective evidence of harmful conduct (hacking, phishing, harassment, spam, deception, scraping).β
Content removal without prior notice possible
βAccount terminationπ¬ Google can remove your content or suspend your account without telling you first if they believe notice would cause harm or compromise an investigation β leaving you with no opportunity to back up your data or contest the decision beforehand.
βGoogle provides advance notice before taking action, except when doing so would cause harm, violate law, compromise investigation, or compromise service security/integrity.β
Terms can be changed with 30 days notice
πCan change terms anytimeπ¬ Google can change the terms of service with just 30 days' notice. If you don't agree, your only option is to stop using Google services entirely and close your account β which may be disruptive if you depend on Gmail, Drive, Photos, etc.
βUsers receive "at least 30 days' advance notice" (email or other means) except when law requires immediate application.β
Must accept new terms or leave
πCan change terms anytimeπ¬ If Google changes the terms and you disagree, you have to delete your content and stop using all Google services. There's no option to continue under the old terms, and given how deeply integrated Google services are in daily life, this can feel coercive.
βNon-acceptance requires users to remove content and stop using services. Users may close accounts anytime without penalty.β
Local law and courts apply for EEA consumers
πJurisdictionπ¬ EEA residents benefit from having their local consumer protection laws apply and can file disputes in their local courts. This is a consumer-friendly provision required by EU law.
βFor EEA/Switzerland residents: Terms governed by home country law; disputes filed in local courts.β
Data disclosed per Irish and EU law
πShares with third partiesπ¬ Google can access and share your data when required by Irish and EU law β such as in response to government or court requests. The specifics are in separate documents you'd need to read separately.
βGoogle Ireland Limited accesses and discloses data per Irish and EU law. See the Transparency Report and Privacy Policy for details.β
Non-assignable software license
πOtherπ¬ You get a personal license to use Google's software but cannot transfer it, modify it, or share it. This is standard for tech companies but means you have very limited rights over the software you use daily.
βGoogle grants a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, personal, non-assignable license for downloadable or preloaded software. Users may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of services or software.β
Note: EEA consumers have a 14-day right of withdrawal with full reimbursement. Users can close accounts anytime without penalty and request content removal. Data access and portability rights are referenced via the Privacy Policy but not explicitly detailed in these terms. Right to object to terms changes exists (by stopping use), and dispute resolution through local courts and the EU ODR platform is available.