What should I look out for with AI in research & science?

Never use AI as a source: every reference must be traceable to the original article, as fabricated or wrongly attributed citations are the most common error. Unpublished data, research proposals and peer-review manuscripts are confidential or commercially sensitive, so do not enter them into a consumer account without a data processing agreement, and check whether the provider stores your input or uses it for training (publishers usually prohibit this explicitly for peer review). If you work with personal data from research participants, the GDPR and your own ethics review apply: running models locally or using an EU-hosted tool with data minimisation is then the safe route. Finally, document your search strategy and your AI use: journals and funders increasingly ask for this, and a review must remain reproducible.

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How safe is Gemini for research & science?

GDPR profile for research & scienceStrong

Gemini has a strong published GDPR profile and, with the right business settings, is well suited to use in research & science.

Where does Gemini stand in research & science?

Shared spot 1 of 30 options for research & science (professional tools and general assistants) on GDPR profile. 5 options, like Gemini, have a strong profile. Each tile is an option we track for this field; click for the check.

Strong5

Good6

Limited8

Unknown4

Caution7

Published safeguards

✓EU hosting possibleYes

✓No training on your data (business)Yes

–Self-hostable (on-premise)Not known

Via Vertex AI, processing can be pinned to EU regions (including the Netherlands). Enterprise data is not used for training; the free consumer app offers fewer guarantees (though stricter policies apply for the EU/EEA).

How to use Gemini safely

Use the business variant and sign a data processing agreement (DPA).
Do not enter unnecessary personal data into prompts; anonymise where possible.
Enable EU data residency where the provider offers it.
Keep a professional in the loop: never use AI as a source: every reference must be traceable to the original article, as invented or misattributed citations are the most common error.

Stronger or equally strong in research & science

CradleCradle (Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Zürich, Switzerland)

ASReview LABUniversiteit Utrecht (the Netherlands)

KeeniousKeenious (Norway)

ScholarcyEverway Opco Limited / Scholarcy (Antrim, United Kingdom)

SciSpacePubGenius Inc. (Milpitas, United States)

Latest developments

18 September 2026Plugin4Shell: Google does not patch Gemini CLI and writes off the product

When Plugin4Shell was published on 18 September 2026, it emerged that Google had chosen not to fix the vulnerability in Gemini CLI. On 4 August 2026, Google announced that Gemini CLI is being discontinued and referred users to Antigravity. The result: any remaining Gemini CLI installation with plugins stays permanently vulnerable to zero-click code execution via a modified plugin repository. GDPR relevance: no update-based mitigation is available, so the only defensible measure is to migrate or remove the tool from machines holding personal data, source code or credentials (art. 32 GDPR). This concerns only the CLI tool, not the Gemini API or Gemini in Google Workspace. source

Questions

How safe is Gemini for research & science?: Gemini has a strong published GDPR profile and, with the right business settings, is well suited to research & science. EU options, no training on your data and/or self-hostable.
Does Gemini train on my data?: Via Vertex AI, processing can be pinned to EU regions (including the Netherlands). Enterprise data is not used for training; the free consumer app offers fewer guarantees (though stricter policies apply for the EU/EEA).
What should I look out for with AI in research & science?: Never use AI as a source: every reference must be traceable to the original article, as fabricated or wrongly attributed citations are the most common error. Unpublished data, research proposals and peer-review manuscripts are confidential or commercially sensitive, so do not enter them into a consumer account without a data processing agreement, and check whether the provider stores your input or uses it for training (publishers usually prohibit this explicitly for peer review). If you work with personal data from research participants, the GDPR and your own ethics review apply: running models locally or using an EU-hosted tool with data minimisation is then the safe route. Finally, document your search strategy and your AI use: journals and funders increasingly ask for this, and a review must remain reproducible.

Source documents

ai.google.dev cloud.google.com

Everything about Gemini Best AI for research & science

Summarised by the editorial team from provider documentation · not legal advice

Last checked: 16 October 2026 · How we check

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