An explicit conversation between a 14-year-old UK teen and Google's Gemini AI has taken a weird turn. Google accounts of the entire family of the teen have been blocked, according to members of the family, which reportedly contained 15 years of personal and business data. While this appears to be because the family members were using a common device — a tablet — Google has disputed the claim, saying account bans don't work that way.
The incident occurred when the 14-year-old reportedly used Google's Gemini AI live camera mode for explicit roleplay, on the family tablet that had parental controls. Gemini appeared to have identified that the user was a teen and locked him out. In the aftermath, the ban on the teenager's account was reportedly followed by the suspension of the parents' and siblings' accounts as well, all linked to the tablet.
The claim originated from an anonymous post on Reddit's UK Legal Advice subreddit. “Everything gone. 15 years of business completely inaccessible. All my emails, all my documents saved in Google Drive. Even my website was linked to my Google account and that's been locked down too … I don't know how I'm going to pay my mortgage in 3 months time,” the claim read.
However, according to a report by Android Authority, Google has cast doubts about the claim. The company stated that if one account violates its Terms of Service, only that account faces potential suspension. Bans do not transfer to devices (in this case, the tablet) or affect other users who have logged into them.
Google added that while a parent's ban can impact child accounts, the reverse can't happen. Actions leading to the ban of a child account do not extend to parents' accounts. Also, the company explained that Gemini Live does not support camera uploads, as reported by the family in their claim, raising doubts about its accuracy.
Google is reportedly conducted a review of its internal logs for any similar patterns of “family bans” in the UK, but so far, it doesn't seem to have identified any other such case.
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