Google Privacy Policy Now Lets Gmail and Photos Data Shared With Search Shape Ads

Google updated its privacy policy on October 16, 2026 to say that content from Drive, Gmail and Google Photos can inform personalized ads when users make that data available to other Google services that support ads. The policy names Search as the example, saying it "may process some of the data that you allow Search to access to personalize content, including ads."

The change, first spotted by Android Authority, ties into Personal Intelligence, the feature that lets the Gemini app and AI Mode in Search read connected apps to tailor answers. It lands as more AI products put ads next to AI answers, from AI Mode in Search to the visual ads OpenAI is testing in ChatGPT.

What exactly changed in Google's privacy policy?

Google added an exception to its long standing line on Gmail, Drive and Photos ads in the version of its privacy policy that took effect on October 16, 2026. The October 12 version said simply: "We don't show you personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Photos." The new version keeps that sentence and adds "unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads."

Google's own comparison page for the two versions shows the other edits. A new passage says users may allow services "like Search or Gemini Apps" to access data from Google Photos and Workspace apps such as Gmail and Drive, subject to the policies and settings of the accessing service. The general ads sentence changed from ads based on "interests and activity across Google services" to ads based on "interests, activity, or personalized content from Google services."

The policy's glossary entry for "personalize content" now names Personal Intelligence directly. Its example: a user asks Search about a recent hotel booking, and Search uses booking details from an email to suggest things to do nearby.

How does Personal Intelligence connect to ads?

Personal Intelligence is the route by which Gmail and Photos data reaches Search, so it is also the route by which that data can now inform ads there. Ars Technica reports that the Gemini app does not currently show ads, while sponsored content can appear in AI search tools, which is where the policy change applies in practice.

Google pitched the feature partly as a shopping aid. When it brought Personal Intelligence to AI Mode on January 22, 2026, Robby Stein, VP of Product for Google Search, wrote that AI Mode "considers the types of items you buy and where you shop," and could read a flight confirmation in Gmail to suggest a coat for the trip (TechCrunch). The October 16 policy now states that the same kind of data can also shape the ads shown in Search.

The feature keeps spreading. Google began bringing Personal Intelligence to Android Auto on October 20, 2026, with cars that have Google built-in to follow in the coming months, Ars Technica reported.

What does Google say about the change?

Google describes the edit as a clarification and says connecting apps is opt in. In a statement to Ars Technica, the company said ads "will continue to be relevant to things like your query, the context of the response and your interests," and added that ads "will not be based directly on your Gmail inbox or Photos library."

A Google spokesperson also told Ars Technica that the clarification does not indicate a change in how Google handles data with its advertising partners. The policy itself says Google does not show personalized ads based on sensitive categories such as race, religion, sexual orientation or health. Ars Technica's reading is less reassuring: if summaries of a user's data inform AI Mode answers, and those answers inform ads, then personal data is part of ad targeting in AI search.

How can users stop their data from shaping ads?

Users can disconnect Workspace and Google Photos from Search in their Google Account, according to Android Authority and Ars Technica. The path is Data and privacy, then Personalization settings, then Manage Personalized Recommendations in Search Services, where the connected apps are listed; users can also turn off Personalized Recommendations entirely on the Search Services Personalization page.

Ars Technica adds that the Gemini app's own Personal Intelligence settings offer a shorter way to disable connected apps. Android Authority warns that disconnecting an app does not necessarily erase what is already stored: data saved in Search Services History may remain even after the app is disconnected or the original email or photo is deleted.

What we don't know yet

• Whether Google sent users a notice about the October 16 change; the policy promises a more prominent notice only for changes it considers significant.
• How Google separates ads that are "based directly" on Gmail or Photos content from ads that draw on summaries of that content in AI Mode.
• Whether services other than Search, including the Gemini app, will use connected app data for ads in the future.
• How regulators in the European Union, where the policy has a separate section on data protection rights, will view the change.