Google has revised its privacy policy to explicitly allow data from Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos to inform personalized advertising when users choose to share that data with other Google services, including Search and Gemini. The policy update took effect October 16 and adds an exception to Google’s previous statement that it did not use content from those services to personalize ads.
The revised Google Privacy Policy says users may allow Search or Gemini Apps to access data from services such as Photos, Gmail and Drive “to provide you with a more personalized experience.” It adds that Search may process permitted data to personalize content, “including ads,” and now qualifies the company’s existing restriction: Google says it does not show personalized ads based on content from Drive, Gmail or Photos “unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads.”
The change is tied to Personal Intelligence, an opt-in feature that connects Google apps to Gemini or AI Mode in Search. With the connections enabled, Google says its models can use information such as email and photo context to produce tailored answers and recommendations. The feature is available only where Google offers it, and Google’s documentation says users select which apps to connect rather than granting blanket access to every service.
That distinction means the policy does not state that Google will routinely scan every Gmail message or photo to target ads. Instead, the potential advertising use applies when a user makes information available to a service that supports personalized advertising. Google’s Photos privacy guidance similarly says Photos data is not used for ads unless a user chooses to make it available to third-party or other Google services that support ads.
Users who do not want the new data pathway can review connected apps in Gemini’s Personal Intelligence settings or Search’s connected-content settings and disconnect Gmail, Drive or Photos. Google also provides controls in My Ad Center for disabling activity used to personalize ads, although turning off ad personalization does not remove the separate data connection used to tailor AI responses. The update gives users a new privacy decision to make: whether the convenience of cross-service AI assistance outweighs allowing information from traditionally ad-excluded services to become an advertising signal.
