Google announced it was making Gemini available to Google Workspace for education domains and adding additional controls for IT administrators to manage Gemini usage withing their Google Workspace domain. I spent some time reviewing and trying to make sense of these new options.
Google made a big deal about extending data privacy protection to ALL education customers, regardless of whether they purchase the Gemini upgrade package.
Understanding the various license combinations, policies, and admin console settings is a bit confusing. I’ll do my best to break it down for you!
Related post: Google Gemini: your elementary teaching assistant!
For domains that do NOT have a Gemini for Google Workspace license:
Gemini will be listed as an additional Google Service and can be enabled / disabled for users who are 18+ in your domain.
To begin, navigate to Apps > Additional Google Services > Gemini
You can enable / disable Gemini for any organizational unit (OU) in your domain by changing the service status.

For domains that DO have a Gemini for Google Workspace license:
When you purchase a Gemini for Google Workspace license, Gemini becomes a core service and will appear when you visit Apps > Google Workspace > Gemini.
First, it is important that you assign your licenses to the appropriate users so that they can take advantage of the Gemini features built into Gmail, Drive, Meet, etc. Visit the “billing” section of the admin console to view and assign licenses.

Gemini Data Privacy Options for EDU domains
Regardless of whether you have a Gemini license or not, when you click on the Gemini service in the admin console, you will see two data privacy options:
- Option 1: Only allow LICENSED users to access Gemini. Customer Data will not be used for model improvements nor reviewed by humans.
- Option 2: Allow licensed AND unlicensed users to access Gemini. Unlicensed user data may be used for model improvement and reviewed by humans. Advise users not to enter confidential information.
Option 2 seems concerning, until I noticed a small disclaimer at the very bottom of the settings page:
Exception for Workspace for Education customers: Customer Data will not be used for model improvements nor reviewed by humans.
This policy is confirmed by an August 30, 2024 post on the Google Workspace Update Blog:
With added data protection, the data you share is only used for responses to your prompts and is not used to improve Gemini or other generative AI models. Added data protection is available to Google Workspace for Education users in every language and country where they can access Gemini.
Regardless of which license you are using (free or paid), your Gemini data will NOT be used for training, advertising or human review. This is a very generous option that require enterprise licensing for most other AI platforms.
If you are interested in having your staff or students explore the capabilities of AI, Gemini seems like the best choice given these additional data privacy guarantees.
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