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Google has drawn internal criticism after employees were told they must grant access to a third-party AI tool to qualify for health coverage during the upcoming benefits enrollment period.
According to internal documents reviewed by Business Insider, the policy applies to US-based employees covered by Alphabet’s health plan. The tool, provided by Nayya, uses artificial intelligence to deliver personalized benefits recommendations based on workers’ health and lifestyle information.
A company resource page explained that “Nayya provides core health plan operating services to optimize your benefits usage, so Alphabet health plan participants can't entirely opt out of third-party data sharing (as permitted under HIPAA).”
The page added that employees who do not wish to share data must “unenroll from the Alphabet-provided benefits during Open Enrollment or when you experience a qualified Family Status Change.”
That stipulation has led to confusion and pushback on internal message boards, with workers questioning the reasoning behind it. “Why are we providing our medical claims to a third-party AI tool without a way to opt out?” read one widely circulated question. Another post described the policy as “a very dark pattern,” arguing that consent could not be considered meaningful if it was “coupled to a must-have feature like Google’s health plans.”
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A Google spokesperson said the Nayya platform was introduced to simplify employee decision-making and improve benefits navigation. “This voluntary tool, which passed our internal security and privacy reviews, was added to help our employees better navigate our extensive healthcare benefit options,” she said.
The firm clarified that Nayya receives only “standard” demographic data if employees choose to opt in and that workers can decide how much additional information to provide. “Employees must opt-in to use the tool and share their own health information, as Google does not have access to it,” added Google.
Nayya said the platform allows participants to see deductible progress and receive customized plan recommendations. It claimed that the product underwent Google’s security and privacy assessments and that Nayya “will not share, rent, sell, or otherwise disclose” personal data.
Despite these assurances, many employees remain uneasy about the requirement. One internal post on Google’s Memegen board called the setup “coercive,” questioning whether workers could meaningfully consent to sharing sensitive medical data in exchange for coverage.
Google’s policy comes as large employers, including Salesforce and Walmart, expand the use of AI tools to manage and personalize employee benefits.
