Now Google says it might use your Gmail and Google Photos data to target ads

Google has changed its privacy policy in a way that matters for anyone using its personalized AI features. For years the policy simply said Google wouldn't use content from Drive, Gmail or Google Photos to personalize ads. As of October 16, that promise carries an exception: unless you choose to make data from those services available to other Google services that support personalized ads. The change was first spotted by Android Authority.

In practice, people who connected Drive, Gmail or Photos to AI Mode and other Search tools through Google's Personal Intelligence feature may now see ads shaped by that content. Google's own example says Search may use data you let it access to personalize content, including ads.

Let's be fair to Google first. There are real limits here. Advertisers don't get your Gmail, Drive or Photos content, and they don't get identifying details like your name or email address. Google says it won't target ads on sensitive categories such as race, sexual orientation, religion or health. And there's a way out: you can disconnect specific apps from Personal Intelligence in Search, or turn off personalized recommendations entirely in the Search personalization settings.

But we think the problem is the shape of the deal, not the safeguards. People connected their inboxes and photo libraries to get better AI answers. That's the pitch for personal AI, and it's a good one. An assistant that actually knows your schedule, your receipts and your trips is far more useful than one that doesn't. What most people didn't sign up for was a policy where that same act of sharing also opens their data to ad personalization. The two choices have been bundled together, and the bundling happened through a line edit in a privacy policy.

This is the pattern we worry about most as AI assistants become the front door to our digital lives. The value of personal AI depends on intimate data. The business of the companies building it largely depends on ads. Every time those two meet, the pressure runs in one direction. Today the exception covers people who opted into Personal Intelligence. Tomorrow, the likelier path is that personal AI becomes the default experience, and the exception quietly becomes the rule.

It also matters for trust in useful AI more broadly. We want people to feel comfortable connecting their data to assistants that genuinely help them. Moves like this teach the opposite lesson: that sharing for convenience is sharing for monetization, whether or not you noticed. That makes the whole category harder to adopt for those who'd benefit most.

Our read: Google should separate these consents. If someone wants better AI recommendations from their Gmail, that should be one switch. If they're willing to have that content shape ads, that should be another, clearly labeled and off by default. Anything less leaves users carrying the burden of reading the fine print on the most personal data they have.

Personal Intelligence lets Google's Search tools, including AI Mode, draw on data from services like Gmail, Drive and Photos to give more tailored responses and recommendations. Google's updated policy also notes that, depending on settings, it may show personalized ads based on interests, activity or personalized content across its services, offering the example of a mountain bike search leading to sports equipment ads on YouTube.