Field note
Gemini Voice, Camera and Screen Sharing at Work
Gemini Live can hear the room, see through the camera and watch the whole screen, so set rules for consent, what is on screen and where the transcript goes before staff use it for work.
Gemini Live can hear the room, see through the camera and watch the whole screen, so set rules for consent, what is on screen and where the transcript goes before staff use it for work.
What the features capture
Gemini Live is the spoken, back-and-forth mode of the Gemini mobile app; Google's help page describes it for Android phones and tablets. The same page says that at the time of writing it is not available in the Gemini web app, although Gemini in Chrome has its own Live mode that shares the current tab by default. In a Live chat the user can turn on the camera to show Gemini what they see, and can share the device screen. Google's wording on the second point is worth quoting: "When you share your screen, your full screen is shared with Gemini."
Some behaviours are documented and useful for a policy. Muting turns off the microphone but the video or screen continues to be shared. Screen sharing stops automatically when Live is put on hold or the screen locks, and does not resume on its own. The camera turns off when the user leaves the app or locks the screen. Ending the chat closes the session and produces a transcript. Google's help also asks users to "respect others' privacy and ask permission before recording or including them in a Live chat".
Where the data goes
The Gemini Apps Privacy Notice lists "transcripts and recordings of your interactions with Gemini Live (including audio, video and screens you share with Live)" as information the user provides. On a personal account, if Keep Activity is on, those recordings and transcripts are stored in Gemini Apps Activity, and transcripts are used to improve Google services including AI models. Audio, video and screen shares are not used for improvement by default; that is a separate setting the user can turn on. If Keep Activity is off, Live chats are kept for up to 72 hours.
On a work account, the Generative AI in Google Workspace Privacy Hub applies: content is not used to train models outside the organisation without permission, and the administrator controls whether Gemini app conversations are saved and for how long, up to 36 months at the time of writing. Google's help also notes that for work accounts only Google Calendar, Google Keep and Google Tasks can be used as connected apps inside Live at the time of writing.
The risks in a workplace
- Bystanders. Colleagues at the next desk, a customer on a call or people on a shop floor are captured by the microphone and camera. Recording identifiable people is processing their personal data under UK law, so the business needs a lawful basis and must tell them.
- The whole screen. A full-screen share includes notifications, the chat window behind the browser, and the spreadsheet tab the user forgot was open.
- The camera. Whiteboards, papers on the desk, ID badges and customer documents are all in frame.
- Personal accounts. A member of staff on a personal account with the audio and video improvement setting turned on is sending screens of work systems into a consumer improvement path.
The control pattern
- Work Live sessions run on work accounts only, where Workspace terms and admin retention apply.
- Before sharing a screen: close other apps, silence notifications and open only what the task needs. On a desktop, sharing a single tab through Gemini in Chrome is narrower than a full-screen mobile share.
- Tell people in earshot before starting. Do not point the camera at people. Do not run customer calls through Live.
- End the session properly. Tap End, read the transcript, and if it captured something it should not have, delete that activity. Google documents how to manage and delete Gemini Apps activity.
- The administrator decides whether the Gemini app is on, sets the retention period, and decides whether the mobile app is permitted on personal devices.
What to write into policy
- Which accounts may use Live for work, and that personal accounts may not.
- A short list of settings that are never shared: finance systems, HR records, customer databases, admin consoles.
- A consent rule for rooms with other people, and a ban on recording calls or meetings through Live.
- The retention setting chosen by the administrator and where the transcript can be reviewed.
- An owner who can answer "what did Gemini see?" within a day.
The wider treatment of meeting audio and transcripts is in voice AI meeting transcripts and privacy. An AI governance review can fold these rules into the existing data-protection controls rather than adding a separate AI policy.
Where to check the current behaviour
Live features are released gradually, and Google notes that the latest changes may not be available to everyone. Before writing a rule about a specific control, open the Gemini Live help page and the Privacy Hub and confirm the wording on the day. The controls described here are those documented at the time of writing.