Google rewrites privacy promise: Gmail, Drive and Photos data connected to AI can now shape ads

Google updated its privacy policy effective October 16, 2026, adding an exception to wording it had kept unchanged since July 2021. The policy previously said flatly that Google does not show personalized ads based on content from Drive, Gmail or Photos. It now adds, unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads, and says Search may process data a user allows it to access to personalize content, including ads. The concrete route is Personal Intelligence, the opt in feature that connects Gmail and Photos to Search AI Mode and Gemini. The change was first reported by Android Authority on October 23.

Google's help pages hold a narrower line: ads will not be based directly on a Gmail inbox or Photos library, and advertisers receive no access to either, but summaries, excerpts and inferences from connected content may be used, and Google told Search Engine Land it has started testing ads in AI Mode for Personal Intelligence users. Sensitive categories such as health, religion, sexual orientation and race remain excluded from personalized ads. Users who do not connect those services are not affected by the exception, and connected apps can be disconnected in the Personal Intelligence settings.

Sources: The Hacker News; PPC Land