Google updates privacy policy regarding Gmail and Drive data

Google has updated its privacy policy to allow data from Gmail, Drive, and Google Photos to potentially influence personalized advertising. This change, which took effect on October 16, creates an exception to the company’s long-standing commitment to not use content from these specific services for ad targeting.

The update is tied to Google’s Personal Intelligence initiative, which includes tools like Gemini and AI-enhanced Google Search. While Google maintains that it does not scan private content for ads by default, users who grant permission for AI tools to access their Workspace or Photos data to provide personalized experiences may find that this information is then used to inform the advertisements they see across other Google services.

Google states that advertisers do not have direct access to individual account content and that personally identifiable information is not shared without user consent. However, the policy shift means that users opting into advanced AI features may be trading a degree of data privacy for increased service personalization.