If you use Google Chrome, there could be a hidden AI model sitting on your computer right now - and you were never asked or told about it. Google has been silently downloading Gemini Nano onto users’ devices, taking up storage, using bandwidth, and raising serious privacy questions.
In this episode, Charly covers:
What Gemini Nano is and how it ended up on your device without consent
How Google profiled your hardware before deciding to push the download
The contradiction between Google’s “local processing” claims and their general AI privacy policies
Why having an AI model sitting alongside your personal and business data is a real concern
Your computer, your data, your choice. If Google will install AI without telling you, it is time to ask what else they are doing with your information.
Alexander Hanf’s full forensic analysis: https://www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-silent-nano-install/
HOW TO CHECK AND REMOVE GEMINI NANO
BACK UP FIRST
1. Check whether the model is on your machine.
On Windows, open File Explorer and navigate to your AppData, then Local, then Google, then Chrome, then User Data. Look for a folder called OptGuideOnDeviceModel. If it is there and it contains a file around four gigabytes, you have it. On a Mac, check your Chrome profile directory for the same folder name.
2. To stop Chrome from downloading it again, you need to open Chrome and type chrome://flags into the address bar. Search for “Optimization Guide On Device Model” and set it to Disabled.
3. Restart Chrome, then go and delete the folder from Step 1.
On Windows, there is also a registry change you can make that blocks the download permanently through a policy setting, which is more reliable than the flags method. If you are not comfortable making registry changes yourself, ask someone who is - this is not something to guess at.
Book a Free 30 minute Breakthrough Session: https://askcharlyleetham.com/book-me
(1 per person only)
Wow! That's really concerning and I believe it's also underhanded, apart from using your data and leaving an AI on the disk which may be able to access all your data. Any personal, legal and medical.
I know that I have considerable very personal data medical and data about my life and my wife's life.
Thank you for this'head up' and goodbye CHROME!
Keep up the good work, because we don't realise these intrusions into our life.
Any
Glad it was useful. It was a huge concern for me.