Now Google says it might use your Gmail and Google Photos data to target ads
The Verge Jess Weatherbed ● Covered by 2 sources
Google changed its privacy policy so Gmail, Drive, and Photos can help target ads if you use personalized AI features. The catch is in a new exception, and it’s a big one.
Based on reporting by The Verge, Jess Weatherbed — read the original for the full story.
Summary, retelling and take written by AI under human oversight; images are AI-generated illustrations. How we work · Report an error
Google has quietly rewritten a privacy promise that used to be simple: it said your Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos data would not be used for personalized ads. That’s no longer the whole story. A policy update, first spotted by Android Authority, adds an exception that changes the terms in a pretty meaningful way.
As of October 16th, Google says that promise doesn’t apply “unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads.” In plain English, if you connect those services to Google’s personalized AI features, that data may now flow into ad targeting.
The change matters because it ties a familiar set of personal files and messages to Google’s ad business through the company’s newer AI tools. AI Mode and other Search tools are part of that picture, according to the source.
Google still frames this as a choice, but the wording is doing a lot of work here. The old line was a clean no. The new one is a permission slip with fine print attached, and that’s usually how these things start to matter.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
Google keeps finding elegant little ways to turn “your data” into “our services.” The trick isn’t new; the packaging is. When a privacy promise grows an exception big enough to drive ads through, people are right to treat it as a change, not a clarification.
Read more about this at: The Verge