Many MindedSchools get Gemini switched on first, and a real off-switch only after pushback
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, in an opinion post by Rory Mir published November 6, 2026, takes aim at how Google has brought AI into schools. In August, Google turned on the Gemini chatbot for 150 million K-12 students who use Google Classroom. A few months later it added a way to turn Gemini off, but using that switch would also have disabled Google search for administrators.
After criticism, Google separated the controls. Gemini, Gemini notebook and Search now each have their own settings, and all are off by default. The post does not give the date of that change or Google's exact wording. EFF's argument is that the fix is partial: Google is still pushing AI into search for all users, and EFF calls this a monopolist imposing unwanted changes on classrooms. It says Google holds around 90% of search traffic and describes the company as an adjudicated monopolist.
For access to knowledge, the concern is about consent and trust. AI tutoring tools could widen learning, but when they arrive by default for minors, with the opt-out tied to core tools, schools bear the privacy and consent costs. EFF notes that switching away from Google is expensive for schools because of contracts, staff retraining and migrating past work. That makes the default very hard to refuse. EFF says DuckDuckGo and Brave Search offer simple, persistent AI settings without a login. It also says the '-ai' query trick is a quirk, not an official control, and could stop working at any time.
Watch for whether the off-by-default settings hold, and whether the AI moratoriums some parents and teachers are pushing large districts to adopt spread. Keep in mind that this is an advocacy piece, not neutral reporting. EFF's claims about AI companies' finances and motives are its own characterization, without figures in the text. EFF also discloses that DuckDuckGo is a donor and says donors do not influence its positions.
Source: EFF Deeplinks