Google Lets Connected Gmail and Photos Data Shape Ads
· Cortex Solutions
Google's privacy policy, updated October 16, now lets Gmail, Drive and Photos data shared with its AI features help personalize ads. What changed and how to opt out.
Quietly and without a major announcement, Google has amended its privacy policy in a way that touches one of its oldest promises: that content in Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos is not used to personalize ads. The change took effect on October 16, 2026. It was first spotted by Android Authority and has since been covered by several tech outlets, including How-To Geek on October 23, Decrypt on October 24 and TechSpot on October 25.
What changed in the policy text?
According to TechSpot, the policy used to state plainly that Google does not show personalized ads based on a user's content from Drive, Gmail or Photos. That sentence is still there, but it now carries an exception: "unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads."
TechSpot also reports that the updated policy includes a new passage saying Search may process data that people allow it to access in order to personalize content, including ads.
The AI link: Personal Intelligence
The main gateway for this change is Personal Intelligence, an opt-in feature that lets Gemini and AI Mode in Google Search draw context from a user's connected apps such as Gmail and Photos. According to TechSpot, the feature launched in January 2026 for paying subscribers and reached all US users in March.
The example repeated across the coverage: you ask AI Mode about things to do on a trip, and it checks the hotel confirmation in your inbox and old vacation photos to make suggestions. That same usefulness is what now opens the door to using that information in ads.
What does Google say about the limits?
The reports we reviewed did not include a direct quote from a Google spokesperson, but they relayed what the policy and support pages say:
- Content from these services is not used for ad targeting by default, and the feature stays off unless the user turns it on, according to Decrypt.
- Advertisers do not see the contents of Gmail, Drive or Photos, and personally identifying details are not shared without permission.
- Ads will not be based directly on the inbox or photo library, but the support page says AI Mode may use summaries, excerpts and inferences from connected apps, and that this information may also be used to show ads, according to TechSpot.
- Sensitive categories such as health and religion remain excluded from ad targeting.
TechSpot notes that Google has begun testing ads in AI Mode for users who have Personal Intelligence turned on, after saying in March that this experience would stay ad-free for now.
Why does this matter?
TechSpot recalls that Google used to scan free Gmail accounts to target ads, which drew criticism and lawsuits, and that it stopped in 2017. It says the new wording appears to be the first time since then that the policy allows inbox content to play a role in ads, even indirectly.
The broader lesson is that AI assistants need your data to be useful, and every access permission you grant them may later be used for purposes you did not have in mind when you switched it on.
How to turn it off
According to How-To Geek and Decrypt, users can:
- Go to Google Account settings, Data & privacy, then the Search services personalization settings, and disconnect Gmail and Photos from the Connected Content Apps list.
- Turn off Personalized Recommendations entirely to stop personalization.
TechSpot cautions that turning off ad personalization in My Ad Center does not necessarily stop connected apps from feeding AI features, while Decrypt, citing Android Authority, notes that previously saved data may remain in Search history even after disconnecting.
Some reports say the feature is not available in the EU, the UK or Switzerland, while other sources do not specify its geographic scope precisely.
What this means for Saudi businesses
The reports concern individual user accounts, but the lesson goes beyond Google and applies to every organization whose staff use AI assistants:
- Review the accounts employees use for work. A personal inbox connected to an AI assistant may hold quotations, contracts and customer data, and any permission granted to the assistant applies to all of it.
- Put a written policy in place for AI tools: which tools are approved, and which data must never be connected or uploaded to them.
- Read the terms of any AI tool before connecting company data to it, and keep track of updates, because terms change, as we have just seen.
- Handle customer data in line with the Kingdom's Personal Data Protection Law, and always ask: where does the data go, and who uses it?
- Consider work tools in which company data stays under the company's control, rather than relying on scattered personal accounts.
At Cortex, we help companies adopt AI in a way that protects their data, through automation solutions designed around each organization's needs: https://cortex.sa/services/ai-automation