Google denies 'misleading' reports of Gmail using your emails to train AI
15 comments
·November 28, 2025tietjens
The only reason I am still using gmail is due to choice paralysis. I do not know which email service to choose and pay for. I do not like Proton. Is Fastmail the way to go? There is also the German one posteo. Should I just use Apple's mail? I'm taking suggestions if you have anything to share.
robin_reala
I’m happy with https://soverin.net/ – they’re EU based, reasonably priced, and I only use them with external clients anyway.
robinhoodexe
I've been using mailbox.org for 5 years and like it very much. Cost some 3 EUR per month (actually there's a 50% discount this week).
Dead simple email that just works. Their webUI is fine, but I almost exclusively use it on iOS or macOS with the default mail app. They also have some other features (calendar, office suite, video calls) that I don't use. I really like the option to create up to 25 email aliases.
wowamit
I was always afraid to switch from Gmail, knowing the impact it would have. But I switched to Fastmail this year and my experience has been comparatively frictionless. My fear was unfounded.
bonaldi
Fastmail is the way. These are people for whom email is their job and focus and you get everything that comes with that, including good and responsive customer service.
tokai
But their servers are in the US.
dontlaugh
The first step is to get your own domain. You can set that up in Apple Mail at first if it’s most convenient. Then you can get everything moved over.
After that it’s much easier to move provider again.
bwg2000
Another vote for Fastmail. Cannot fault, and honestly a joy to use (if that’s possible checking your email).
ljlolel
Some people worked on this. They don’t train on it directly. They use AI to rewrite the content “privacy-safe” then train on that….
LightBug1
That sounds very "privacy safe" ...
konart
Poor AI, reading all those ad emails...
agluszak
> Enabling the feature in Workspace says that “you agree to let Google Workspace use your Workspace content and activity to personalize your experience across Workspace,” according to the settings page, but according to Google, that does not mean handing over the content of your emails to use for AI training.
Google be like: "trust me bro"
simonw
User-facing software is full of language like that these days and I find it really frustrating, because it never helps answer the questions attentive people actually have, like will that mean my emails get dumped into the next Gemini training run?
criddell
If you are using Google Workspace you decided to trust them a while ago.
With so many settings spread across multiple sections, especially in Workspace accounts, it's challenging to keep track of how existing settings are affected by each new addition. I generally review these regularly, yet find surprises now and then.
Knowing what setting does what in Gmail is becoming difficult by the day.