Google has made a crucial update to its privacy policy, which went into effect on October 16, paving the way for the use of user content in services such as Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos for targeted advertising purposes, provided that interconnected AI features are enabled within the account.
According to the previous text of the privacy policy, Google explicitly stated that personalized ads do not rely on content stored in Drive, Gmail, or Photos. However, the new update added a direct exception stating that this restriction applies unless the user decides to make the data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads.
AI Interconnection and Data Tracking
This change in policy wording is tied to Google's launch of the Personal Intelligence initiative, an experimental feature that began rolling out earlier this year. The feature allows the Gemini AI model to share and process data across various Google apps, including Search, Gmail, Drive, and Photos, to deliver a more tailored user experience.
The new wording clarifies that when a user grants access permission to services like Search or Gemini apps to the content of Photos or Workspace apps, the engine or service may process this available data to personalize content, including commercial ads displayed.
What Changes Practically for Users?
Although Google has not made private content, photos, or emails directly available to advertisers, it has opened the door to utilizing contextual data processing across Search and AI to target ads that match user interests based on their personal files. At the same time, the company emphasized that personally identifiable information, such as name and email address, remains protected and will not be disclosed to advertisers without explicit permission.
The "Personal Intelligence" feature remains an opt-in choice for now. Users who wish to review their settings or disable personalized recommendations can go to the "Data & privacy" page in their Google account, then navigate to "Personalization settings" and manage personalized recommendations in Search services to disable the feature entirely.