Google Privacy Change: Your Gmail and Photos Data Can Now Shape Ads If You Connect Them to AI Search

Google has quietly rewritten its privacy policy so that data from Gmail, Drive and Google Photos can help shape the ads you see — but only if you choose to connect those services to its AI search tools. The change, which took effect on October 16, adds a condition to a promise Google had kept in the same wording since July 2021: that it would never personalise ads using content from Drive, Gmail or Photos.
The exception is tied to Personal Intelligence, the opt-in feature launched in Gemini in January 2026 that lets Search and Gemini draw on your emails, photos and files to give more personal answers. Under the new wording, if you let Search access that data, Search may process it to personalise content, including ads. Google stresses that advertisers never get direct access to your inbox or photo library, that it does not hand over names or email addresses, and that ads are never targeted on sensitive traits such as medical history, religion, sexual orientation or race. By default, nothing changes: if you never connect the apps, the old promise still holds. Users who want to keep their email and photos out of ad targeting can disconnect the apps from Search or turn off Personalised Recommendations in Search's personalisation settings — though that also means Search stops tapping your inbox for personal recommendations.
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