This is also disturbing given that Sean Duffy currently serves as the head of NASA and ultimately is responsible for the space agency’s technology decisions.
Welcome (back) to the last century!

BTW, this (unfortunately) is a great example of #enshittification on Google's part.

① Get users reliant (addicted?) to key features.
② Bundle access to those features with huge privacy compromises.
③ (Optional) Don't inform users about Step 2 — just auto opt them in without any notification.

There are numerous #Gmail alternatives out there, including several that respect your #privacy and don't automatically opt-in to reading your emails and other data.

If privacy is important to you, perhaps it's time to consider switching email providers.