Google's Privacy Policy Now Says Gmail and Photos Data Shared With Search Can Personalise Ads
Google's privacy policy, effective October 16, says it does not show personalised ads based on Gmail, Drive or Google Photos content unless users make that data available to Google services that support personalised ads. The policy gives Search as an example. Android Authority, which reported the change on October 23, ties it to Personal Intelligence, Google's feature for connecting those apps.
Connecting Gmail or Google Photos to Google's AI features can now feed the ads you see, according to Google's own privacy policy. Android Authority reported the change on Friday, October 23; the current policy is marked effective October 16.
What the policy says
The policy states: "We don't show you personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Google Photos, unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads." It says users may allow services such as Search or Gemini Apps to access data from Gmail, Drive or Photos, and gives this example: "Search may process some of the data that you allow Search to access to personalize content, including ads." A separate line says that when users let services process data from other services, "including for features such as Personal Intelligence," the same data may be used to personalise their experience.
The policy also says Google does not share information that personally identifies users, such as name or email, with advertisers unless they ask it to.
What it means for users
Android Authority stresses that this does not mean Google automatically scans private emails and photos to serve ads; the exception covers data users choose to share with eligible services. It notes that disconnecting an app does not necessarily erase data already saved in Search Services History.
Limits
- We read the current policy text; we did not compare it line by line with the previous version, so we cannot say exactly which sentences are new.
- The link to Personal Intelligence and the description of what disconnecting does are Android Authority's reading; Google has not commented in the sources we read.
- Android Authority reported this on October 23, three days before this article; we are covering it now because we missed it at the time.