Clarify use of user's code for training within the free quota on paid service

[savchenko]

From the Gemini API Additional Terms of Service:

When you use Paid Services, including, for example, the paid quota of the Gemini API, Google doesn't use your prompts (including associated system instructions, cached content, and files such as images, videos, or documents) or responses to improve our products, and will process your prompts and responses in accordance with the Data Processing Addendum for Products Where Google is a Data Processor. For Paid Services, Google logs prompts and responses for a limited period of time, solely for the purpose of detecting violations of the Prohibited Use Policy and any required legal or regulatory disclosures. This data may be stored transiently or cached in any country in which Google or its agents maintain facilities.

Could you please clarify if the inputs submitted within the free quota on paid service are used for training? For example, if someone is using Gemini API key, but otherwise is within the daily free limit.

This HN thread is worth reading: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44379036

[brandonchesleytcn]

https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/terms#paid-services

When a Service is being offered for a fee, it is considered to be a paid Service (the "Paid Services"). When you activate a Cloud Billing account, all use of Gemini API and Google AI Studio is a "Paid Service" with respect to how Google Uses Your Data, even when using Services that are offered free of charge, such as Google AI Studio and unpaid quota of Gemini API.

https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/blob/main/docs/cli/configuration.md

What we DON'T collect:
Personally Identifiable Information (PII): We do not collect any personal information, such as your name, email address, or API keys.
Prompt and Response Content: We do not log the content of your prompts or the responses from the Gemini model.
File Content: We do not log the content of any files that are read or written by the CLI.

This is what helped answer our questions.

[savchenko]

This is what helped answer our questions.

This doesn't answer the question about model training though, does it?

Prompt and Response Content: We do not log the content of your prompts or the responses from the Gemini model.

I'd carefully read all agreements as some mention monitoring and "transient logging" for compliance, etc.
See the NH thread I have added to the first message.

[dinvlad]

Exactly my concerns as well. Looks like they've added the much-needed clarification 👍:
https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/blob/main/docs/tos-privacy.md

[wgb-10]

You can disable model training by following the steps here: https://developers.google.com/gemini-code-assist/docs/set-up-gemini#read-privacy-notice

On VS Code, you will see a window as follows (I'm on the Gemini Code Assist for individuals plan)

[aper0lspritz]

Hi @savchenko - thanks for posting this issue. Apologies for the delay! @dinvlad is correct in providing the https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/blob/main/docs/tos-privacy.md. This should provide all the clarity you need.

[Jstephenson808]

Hi, I would just like to feedback a bit about these privacy statements as there is a key bit of information which seems to me to be unclear from the docs and I think that it would be good if it could be clearly stated somewhere. What does opting out of useageStatistics mean for an individual plan? If I am using the free tier and I set this variable to false what does it opt me out of? It is not clear to me from this information

2. What are Usage Statistics and what does the opt-out control?The Usage Statistics setting is the single control for all optional data collection in the Gemini CLI.
   The data it collects depends on your account and authentication type:

   Google account with Gemini Code Assist for Individuals: When enabled, this setting allows Google to collect both anonymous telemetry (for example, commands run and performance metrics) and your prompts and answers, including code, for model improvement.
   ...
   Please refer to the Privacy Notice that applies to your authentication method for more information about what data is collected and how this data is used.

You can disable Usage Statistics for any account type by following the instructions in the Usage Statistics Configuration documentation.

Then there is this link which states

Usage Statistics

To help us improve the Gemini CLI, we collect anonymized usage statistics. This data helps us understand how the CLI is used, identify common issues, and prioritize new features.

What we collect:

Tool Calls: We log the names of the tools that are called, whether they succeed or fail, and how long they take to execute. We do not collect the arguments passed to the tools or any data returned by them.
API Requests: We log the Gemini model used for each request, the duration of the request, and whether it was successful. We do not collect the content of the prompts or responses.
Session Information: We collect information about the configuration of the CLI, such as the enabled tools and the approval mode.

What we DON'T collect:

Personally Identifiable Information (PII): We do not collect any personal information, such as your name, email address, or API keys.
Prompt and Response Content: We do not log the content of your prompts or the responses from the Gemini model.
File Content: We do not log the content of any files that are read or written by the CLI.

How to opt out:

You can opt out of usage statistics collection at any time by setting the usageStatisticsEnabled property to false in your settings.json file:

{
  "usageStatisticsEnabled": false
}

There is a lack of clarity as far as I am concerned here about what the opt out does, as there is an inconsistency between what it is stated that you collect and what the opt out does. Could you please clarify?