Cybersecurity|Cybersecurity statistics
Gemini in Chrome: collects the most user data among all browser-integrated AIs
After Google announced connecting the Chrome browser with Gemini AI, Surfshark instantly investigated the user privacy angle of AI (Artificial Intelligence) agent browsers. With the Gemini-in-Chrome integration, life will become so much easier for many. However, while convenience is important, users should be aware of the amount of data collected.
Key insights
- Google’s mobile browser, Chrome, along with its integrated agentic AI, Gemini, collects the most data among the analyzed browsers with integrated agentic AIs. If you use Chrome together with Gemini on your phone, they collect 24 different data types directly linked to you. This data includes your name, location, device ID, browsing and search history, product interactions, and purchase history, among others.
- Similar to Google, Microsoft has also integrated an agentic AI, Copilot, into its Edge browser. However, Edge is less data-hungry. Edge itself collects six data types: customer support information, browsing history, device ID, product interactions, and performance data. Meanwhile, Copilot additionally collects your name, location, photos or videos, audio data, search history, user ID, advertising data, and diagnostic data.
- Perplexity has also developed a browser with agentic AI called Comet¹, which is currently only available for desktop users. You can find the Perplexity AI app on the App Store. In terms of data collection practices, Perplexity is less data-hungry than Gemini and Copilot, as it collects 10 types of data linked to you. These include location, user ID, device ID, product interactions, purchase history, and other diagnostic-related data.
- Opera is currently developing an agentic AI called Neon², which is designed to understand your intent, assist with tasks, and take actions. At the moment, you can only join the waiting list to access its alpha version. For its mobile version, Opera refers to its app as an AI browser, which uses the Aria AI assistant. It collects only six data points — none of which are linked to you — for third-party advertising and analytics purposes.
- With its integrated agentic AI Leo³, Brave is the most private mobile browser among the five analyzed with integrated AI. It collects only two data points: usage data (for analytics purposes) and user ID (for app functionality). This demonstrates that it is possible for a company to develop a web browser with agentic AI functionality while also being privacy-conscious.
- It is important to note that many browsers, such as Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, allow users to add agentic AI extensions like ChatGPT. While these tools are undeniably useful, installing them can expose additional personal data to third-party companies. For this reason, it is essential to understand the data collection practices of these tools in order to find the best balance between data privacy and functionality.
Methodology and sources
This study analyzed the data collection practices of five leading browsers with integrated agentic AI features: Google Chrome (Gemini), Microsoft Edge (Copilot), Perplexity (Comet), Opera (Aria/Neon), and Brave (Leo). Official privacy policies and publicly available app store disclosures (as of September 2025) were reviewed to determine the number and types of personal data points each browser collects when used on a mobile device.
As Perplexity’s Comet mobile browser and Opera’s Neon agentic AI are not yet available on the Apple App Store, only the currently available apps were analyzed.
For the complete research material behind this study, visit here.
