Connect Gmail to Google’s AI, and your ads may change too

Google has changed its privacy policy in a way that matters for anyone using its personalized AI features, The Verge reports. For years the policy said Google would not 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. Android Authority first spotted the change. Personal Intelligence lets Google’s Search tools, including AI Mode, draw on Gmail, Drive and Photos for more tailored answers and recommendations, and Google’s own example says Search may use data you let it access to personalize content, including ads. The policy also notes Google may show personalized ads based on interests, activity or personalized content across services, citing a mountain bike search leading to sports equipment ads on YouTube.

There are real limits. Advertisers do not get Gmail, Drive or Photos content, or identifying details like names or email addresses. Google says it will not target ads on sensitive categories such as race, sexual orientation, religion or health. Users can disconnect specific apps from Personal Intelligence in Search or turn off personalized recommendations entirely in Search personalization settings. Google has steadily widened how Gemini reaches into these apps, from chatting with Gmail and Docs (Gmail Live) to managing Photos (Gemini Spark and Photos).

The problem is the bundling. People connected inboxes and photo libraries to get better AI answers, and that pitch is strong: an assistant that knows your schedule, receipts and trips is far more useful. Most did not sign up for that same act of sharing to open their data to ad personalization, and the two choices were joined through a line edit in a privacy policy.

This is the pattern to worry about as assistants become the front door to digital life. Personal AI depends on intimate data; the companies building it largely depend on ads; and when the two meet, pressure runs one way. Today the exception covers people who opted into Personal Intelligence. If personal AI becomes the default experience, the exception could quietly become the rule. It also damages trust in useful AI, teaching people that sharing for convenience is sharing for monetization. The fix is separate consents: one switch for better AI recommendations, and another, clearly labeled and off by default, for letting that content shape ads. Rivals can compete on keeping personal data away from ads, as Meta has tried with Muse’s privacy pitch (Muse). More in our Google coverage and regulation coverage.