[Google Chrome has quietly removed the phrase “without sending your data to Google servers” from its on-device AI settings description between versions 147 and 148.][Users on the Chrome subreddit and Hacker News spotted the change, sparking debate among privacy enthusiasts who distrust Google’s data handling.][The removal eliminates Google’s primary in-product justification for silently downloading a 4GB Gemini Nano AI file, a practice a privacy researcher argues may violate EU law.]
Google Chrome recently made a subtle but significant change between versions 147 and 148, stripping a key privacy promise from its on-device AI settings page as spotted by users on the Chrome subreddit. The line “without sending your data to Google servers” has vanished, leaving only a basic description of the feature’s functionality.
Consequently, the alteration fuels existing concerns about Chrome’s AI practices, which include silently downloading a roughly 4GB AI model file. Privacy researcher Alexander Hanff, who documented the behavior using macOS kernel filesystem logs, argues the download violates the EU ePrivacy Directive by lacking explicit user consent.
This quiet edit removes Google’s clearest argument that on-device processing inherently protects user data, a claim already contradicted by Chrome’s “AI Mode.” Meanwhile, this feature routes all queries directly to Google’s cloud servers instead of the local model previously installed without permission.
Google did not respond to a request for comment regarding the settings text change. Users who have updated to Chrome 148 will find the privacy guarantee gone from their settings menu entirely.
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