Expanding access to the Gemini app for teen students in education

What’s changing

Google Workspace for Education admins can now turn on the Gemini app with added data protection as an additional service for their teen users (ages 13+ or the applicable age in your country) in the following languages and countries. With added data protection, chats are not reviewed by human reviewers or otherwise used to improve AI models. The Gemini app will be a core service in the coming weeks for Education Standard and Plus users, including teens, 
We created this Gemini experience for teens after consulting with child development and learning science experts – including conducting learning focused red teaming, an industry standard testing process to find vulnerabilities in generative AI – and testing with youth advisory panels to ensure we’re bringing this technology to students responsibly.
Gemini can help teen students learn responsibly and confidently in an AI-first future.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it’s important

Google is committed to making AI helpful for everyone, in the classroom and beyond. We want to both prepare teens with the skills and tools they need to thrive in the future where GenAI exists and help them learn how this technology can be used to unlock creativity and facilitate learning. Expanding access to the Gemini app to younger students provides guided support to help them learn more confidently with in-the-moment assistance, practice materials, and real-time feedback. 

Additional details

Upon accessing the Gemini app for the first time, teens will be guided through an AI Literacy video, endorsed by ConnectSafely and Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI)–with tips on how to use generative AI responsibly. And according to Common Sense Media, the Gemini teen experience is considered “low risk” and is designated as “designed for kids”.
“Google’s Gemini, which is currently the only major platform to create a specific experience for teens, includes additional CSAM (child sexual abuse material) safeguards, content policies, and in-product experiences that help teens understand the limitations of generative AI.” – Common Sense Media

Getting started

Rollout pace

  • Available now.

Availability

  • Available for Google Workspace Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade

Resources

Gemini in the side panel of Google Chat is now available

What’s changing

For the last few months, users with the Gemini for Google Workspace add-ons and Gemini Education add-ons have used Gemini in the side panel of Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive to assist them with summarizing, analyzing, and generating content through insights gathered from their emails, documents, and more. Earlier this month, Gemini add-on subscribers began using Gemini in Google Chat for summaries of unread conversations in the home view. 
Today, we’re expanding Gemini in Chat to help users collaborate more effectively in their spaces, group messages and direct messages. With Gemini in the side panel of Chat, you can: 
  • Summarize a space or conversation. Examples include asking Gemini the following: 
    • “Summarize this conversation.”
    • “What are the key takeaways in this conversation?” 
    • After an initial summary is generated, you can ask for a longer summary, “Give me a detailed summary of [topic] discussed in this space.” 
  • Generate a list of action items from that space or conversation, such as: 
    • “What are the action items in this conversation?” 
    • “Are there any action items for me in this conversation?” 
    • “Summarize [person’s] action items in this space” 
  • Answer specific questions about that space or conversation by asking: 
    • “What did [person] say about the timeline extension in this space?” 
    • “What’s the decision on the project discussed in this conversation?” 
gemini in the side panel of chat

Who’s impacted 

End users 

Why you’d use it 

Gemini in the side panel of Chat enables you to better collaborate with your team by helping you quickly catch up on missed conversations, capture action items, or search for key details that are easy to miss in a fast-moving space. 

Additional details 

At this time, Gemini in the side panel of Chat can summarize and analyze messages in the conversation that you are currently viewing. It will not summarize or analyze context across your entire Chat conversation history, your Gmail inbox or your Drive files. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

Available for Google Workspace customers with a: 
  • Gemini Business and Enterprise add-on 
  • Gemini Education and Education Premium add-on 

Resources 

Data classifications labels for Gmail are now available in open beta

What’s changing

In addition to Google Drive, we’re expanding data classification labels to now include Gmail. Classification labels are used to classify and audit content according to organizational guidelines (“Sensitive”, “Confidential”, etc.) and apply policies, such as data loss prevention (DLP) rules, to protect sensitive information in email messages. Classification labels will be available when using Gmail on the web – support for Gmail on mobile devices will be introduced in the coming months.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it’s important

Data breaches are increasingly common and costly across all sectors, including enterprises, public sectors, and government institutions. To minimize data exfiltration and better understand the data being shared, organizations need to differentiate between various types of information and their sensitivity levels to apply data protection policies accordingly. By expanding data classification labels to Gmail, Google Workspace provides admins with a more flexible and robust system integrated with data protection capabilities to help organizations effectively categorize and protect sensitive information. 

Specifically, admins can create:

  • New classification labels or extend existing ones enabled in Drive labels for Gmail from the Label Manager. Labels can be used to  denote department names, document types, document status, and other custom categories. 
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The Label Manager tool can be accessed in the Admin console  by going to Security > Access and data control
  • Data protection rules with classification label as a condition, to apply actions to a message based on its classification. For example, a message will be blocked if it’s classified as ‘Internal’ and is being sent to an external recipient.
Notification about delivery failure due to DLP policy, blocking messages labeled as ‘Confidential’ to be sent to recipients outside of the organization
  • Data protection rules to automatically apply classification labels to a message, based on its content. For example, a ‘Confidential’ label can be applied to a message if it contains sensitive financial information, such as credit card or bank account numbers.
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Data protection rule with ‘Apply a label’ action. Classification label specified in the rule will be applied to a message, if message contains information matching conditions of the rule
  • DLP rules with Confidential Mode as a condition to prevent sending messages with sensitive information, if it is not encrypted (Confidential Mode is not enabled)
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Data protection rule is set up to detect messages with sensitive information (credit card or passport numbers) and confidential mode disabled in order to enforce sending such info with enhanced protection measures





  • End users can view and apply Classification Labels when using Gmail on the web.
Users can apply classification labels to a message, according to the organization’s data governance policies

Additional details

  • When Data loss prevention (DLP) rules for Gmail using classification labels either as a condition or as an action, messages are scanned asynchronously. This means that the message is classified, blocked or quarantined after it leaves the sender’s mailbox) and before being dispatched to the recipient. In a future release, we plan to provide synchronous support with instant notifications consistent with our synchronous support of instant DLP enforcement for Gmail.
Note that:
    • If the message is blocked as a result of the classification label applied to it, the sender will get a bounce back message.
    • If the message is automatically labeled by a DLP rule, the sender will not see the label reflected in the sent message. The recipient will see the automatically applied label the same way as any other classification label applied manually by the sender.
  • Only Badged options list and Multiple Options list (Single select) field types are supported in Gmail. If classification labels are enabled for usage in both Gmail and Drive, and it contains fields that are not supported in Gmail, such as date or persona, Gmail users will see the label only with fields of the supported types.

Getting started

  • Admins: 
  • End users: If configured by your admin, you’ll see the “Classification” option when composing a new messaging or replying to an existing message — when you open the menu, you can select labels relevant to your message. We’ll share the end user Help Center article on Monday, November 3, 2024.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • The Label Manager and manual classification is available to Google Workspace:
    • Frontline Starter and Standard
    • Business Standard and Plus
    • Enterprise Standard and Plus
    • Education Standard and Education Plus
    • Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus
  • Data loss prevention rules with labels as a condition or labels as an action are available to:
    • Enterprise Standard and Plus
    • Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus, and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade
    • Frontline Standard
    • Cloud Identity Premium (in combination with a Workspace Edition eligible for Gmail)

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – November 1, 2024

4 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time. If not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete.

Apply black & white filter to Google Drive scans on Android devices 
In August, we announced that you can now save files scanned in the Google Drive Android app as a .JPEG. This week, we’re excited to introduce an additional scanning option that gives you the ability to apply a black & white filter on your document scans. This new filter helps enhance texts and other important elements, ensuring they are sharply defined when compared to the background region. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about scanning files with your mobile device.
Apply black & white filter to Google Drive scans on Android devices
AI Classification now supports Field Selection for Model Training 
When AI Classification first launched, Labels eligible for model training needed to have a single field of either a badge or option-list field type, and Labels with multiple fields were ineligible. Now, customers that use AI Classification will be able to select which badge or option list field they would like to train a model for after identifying the target label. Once trained and enabled, the AI model will automatically apply the label and will only populate the selected field. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to customers with the AI Security add-on, Gemini Enterprise add-on, and Gemini Education Premium. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about Label Google Drive files automatically using AI classification. 
Reducing noise from unfollowed threads in Google Chat
In order to make it easier to identify which unread threads are most relevant to you, we’re reducing the noise by removing visual cues from threads that you do not follow in Google Chat. Starting this week, new activity, such as unread messages from threads you do not follow, will no longer bold and appear at the top of your conversation lists. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains on web and mobile at an extended rollout pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). | Available to all Google Workspace customers. 
Introducing a better filter by condition experience for tables in Google Sheets 
Tables in Google Sheets will now provide users with a smarter filter by condition experience. Sheets offers 21 options for users to filter by condition, such as “Date is” or “Text ends with”. However, we know there are scenarios in which certain filters might not be applicable based on the type of data in a spreadsheet. Based on the set column type, users will now only see relevant filter by condition options. For example, if your column type is set to number, the filter options will be number-based only. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about sorting & filtering your data.
Introducing a better filter by condition experience for tables in Google Sheets

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.
Refine emails faster with updates to the “Polish” shortcut in Gmail 
We’re expanding the Help me write shortcut to web and introducing a Polish shortcut on web and mobile that helps you refine emails even faster. | Learn more about email shortcuts in Gmail. 
Google Classroom now supports exporting missing and excused grades to select Student Information Systems (SIS)
Teachers can now include missing and excused grades when exporting grades to their Student Information Systems (SIS). | Learn more about exporting missing and excused grades to select Student Information Systems (SIS). 
New density setting in Google Chat 
To give users more control over how they see information in Google Chat, we’re introducing a new setting that allows you to control the visual density of screen elements. Choose between “Comfortable” or “Compact” on chat.google.com. | Learn more about density settings in Chat.
Context Aware Access insights and recommendations are now generally available
We’re making it easier to apply context-aware access (CAA) policies with new insights and recommendations. We’ll proactively surface potential security gaps and suggest pre-built CAA levels which admins can deploy to remediate the security gaps. | Learn more Context Aware Access insights.

FedRAMP High authorization for Gemini for Workspace 
As recently announced, we submitted our package to obtain FedRAMP High authorization for Gemini for Workspace, including the Gemini app. A FedRAMP High certification assures federal agencies in the United States that a cloud service provides the highest level of protection for their most sensitive data, enabling them to confidently leverage cloud technologies for critical operations. | Learn more about FedRAMP High authorization for Gemini.

Gemini in the side panel of Google Chat is now available
We’re expanding Gemini in Chat to help users collaborate more effectively in their spaces, group messages and direct messages. | Learn more about Gemini in the side panel of Chat. 
Data classifications labels for Gmail are now available in open beta
In addition to Google Drive, we’re expanding data classification labels to now include Gmail. Classification labels are used to classify and audit content according to organizational guidelines (“Sensitive”, “Confidential”, etc.) and apply policies, such as data loss prevention (DLP) rules, to protect sensitive information in email messages. Classification labels will be available when using Gmail on the web – support for Gmail on mobile devices will be introduced in the coming months. | Learn more about the beta for data classifications labels for Gmail.

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog posts for additional details.

Rapid Release Domains: 
Scheduled Release Domains: 
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains: 

    For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).   

    View in-meeting chat messages in Google Meet live streams

    What’s changing

    Starting today, when you’re viewing a Google Meet live stream, you will be able to see chat messages that are sent by participants who have joined via the meeting link. This update helps ensure that information shared through Meet chat messages — like links to relevant documents, time-keeping messages, and more — are also visible to live-stream attendees, making meetings more equitable. Previously, in-call chat messages were only visible to  hosts, co-hosts, participants and viewers who were in the main meeting. Once you receive the update, you’ll see a notification the next time chat messages are sent during a live stream. When you click the notification, the chat panel will open.

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    Chat messages viewed from a live stream

    Getting started

    Rollout pace

    Important note: this feature will roll out at a much slower pace than usual as we approach the end of the year. We will update this post to confirm when rollout has completed for Fast and Rapid release tracks respectively.
    • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 18, 2024. We anticipate that rollout will be completed sometime during the week of December 5, 2024.
    • Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 6, 2024. We anticipate that rollout will be completed by end of Q1 2025.

    Availability

    • The following Google Workspace editions can initiate a live stream:
      • Enterprise Starter, Standard, Plus and Enterprise Essentials Plus
      • Education Plus, and the Teaching & Learning upgrade
    • Anyone can view a live stream.

    Resources