What Is It?

Google has announced a major enhancement to Google Vault, extending its powerful retention and litigation hold capabilities to the Gemini app. Previously, administrators were limited to searching and exporting Gemini conversations. With this update, administrators can now create, update, and delete formal retention rules and legal holds, ensuring that Gemini interactions are governed by the same rigorous data policies as emails and documents.

What Is the Impact?

info
The introduction of these features is a significant milestone for organizations integrating AI into their daily operations. By bringing the Gemini app under the umbrella of Google Vault, IT teams can now enforce data retention policies that align with industry-specific regulatory requirements and internal corporate governance standards.
info
Crucially, Vault policies act as an overriding layer. Even if a user decides to turn off their Gemini activity history or manually deletes a chat, any active litigation hold will ensure that the data remains preserved and accessible to administrators. This prevents the accidental or intentional loss of business-critical information that might be subject to discovery requests.

For organizations operating in regulated industries, this update simplifies the eDiscovery process. Rather than dealing with fragmented data sources, legal and compliance teams can now centrally manage Gemini data, making it easier to respond to audits or legal proceedings without manual, time-consuming data collection processes.

Who Is It For?

This update is available to organizations using specific Google Workspace editions that include Google Vault. The following editions are supported:

  • check_circle
    • Google Workspace Business Plus
  • check_circle
    • Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus
  • check_circle
    • Education Fundamentals, Standard and Plus
  • check_circle
    • Frontline Standard and Plus
  • check_circle
    • Enterprise Essentials Plus
verifiedEnterprise-Grade Security
Ensure your AI usage stays compliant with enterprise-grade data retention and eDiscovery tools.

When Will It Roll Out?

The feature is available now for all customers on both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. There is no waiting period, and administrators can begin configuring their retention policies immediately.

What Should You Do?

To ensure your Gemini data is properly governed, follow these steps to configure your Vault settings:

1
Step 1: Verify Eligibility
Ensure your current Google Workspace subscription includes access to Google Vault.
2
Step 2: Access Vault
Navigate to
Appsarrow_forward_iosGoogle Workspacearrow_forward_iosVault
within your Google Admin console.
3
Step 3: Define Retention Rules
Within the Vault interface, create a default retention rule for the Gemini app. You can set this to a finite period or keep it indefinite based on your company's data policy.
4
Step 4: Configure Litigation Holds
If you have specific legal requirements, create a 'Matter' in Vault and apply a hold to the Gemini app data for specific users or organizational units.

Background & Context

It is essential to understand that Vault retention rules take precedence over user-level settings and general Admin console configurations. If a user deletes a conversation, the data remains visible to Vault administrators despite being removed from the user's view. Please note that this update applies strictly to the standalone Gemini app on web and mobile. It does not apply to Gemini features integrated directly into other applications like Gmail or Google Docs, as those have different data retention architectures.

In conclusion, this development is a vital step in making AI tools enterprise-ready. By providing the necessary administrative controls, Google is enabling businesses to innovate with confidence. If you need assistance setting up your data governance framework, the Cloud Captains are here to help.