In late October 2026 Google quietly rewrote one of its longest-standing reassurances to the people who trust it with their most private material, changing a promise that Gmail, Drive and Photos would never feed personalised advertising. The new wording keeps the promise in place but leaves a door open for those who choose to connect those accounts to Search or the Gemini apps. Times Now, drawing on the policy text as first flagged by Android Authority, places the change as a shift from absolute protection toward protection that depends on each person's consent. Whether that shift is felt in pr
Google's Privacy Policy Now Allows Gmail, Drive and Photos Data to Shape Personalised Ads
The earlier promise now comes with a condition attached
Mark
So what actually changed on October 16?
Mimi
Google had said it wouldn't use Gmail, Drive or Photos data for personalised ads. The new wording adds an exception: unless you make that data available to other Google services that support personalised ads.
Mark
And which services are those?
Mimi
The policy names Search and the Gemini apps as examples of services you can let access your other data. Its own example is Search using allowed data to personalise content, including ads.
Luke
Careful with that, though. The policy says Search may process some of the data. That's permission language, not a description of something already happening.
Mark
So nobody's inbox is being mined for ads today?
Luke
The reporting doesn't say that, and it doesn't say the opposite either. It tells us what the text allows, not what Google is doing or how many people have connected accounts.
Mimi
What it does make clear is that this runs through a choice. The exception applies when users connect those services.
Mark
Is that choice easy to undo?
Mimi
Per the report, yes. You can disconnect apps from Search's Personal Intelligence features, or turn off personalised recommendations in the Search Services Personalisation settings.
Luke
One more gap: there's no Google statement in this coverage explaining why the wording changed. That's still unknown.
Il Polso
- Google's revised privacy policy has erased its earlier flat promise that Gmail, Drive and Photos data would never shape personalised ads.
- A new opt-in exception lets Search or Gemini reach into those personal accounts, raising alarm about how private material could surface in advertising.
- Users are being pointed toward Search personalisation settings and app disconnection controls as the means to hold their data back.
- The company has not yet explained its reasoning or how the data would be applied, leaving the change in an uncertain, watchful state.
In late October 2026 Google quietly rewrote one of its longest-standing reassurances to the people who trust it with their most private material, changing a promise that Gmail, Drive and Photos would never feed personalised advertising. The new wording keeps the promise in place but leaves a door open for those who choose to connect those accounts to Search or the Gemini apps. Times Now, drawing on the policy text as first flagged by Android Authority, places the change as a shift from absolute protection toward protection that depends on each person's consent. Whether that shift is felt in practice will depend on choices made quietly inside settings most people never open.
On October 16, 2026, Google added a clause to its privacy policy that changes what it had long promised about the contents of Gmail, Drive and Photos. Android Authority first reported the revision, and Times Now has since explained what it means for everyday users of those services.
The old wording was a simple assurance that information from these accounts would not be used to personalise advertising. The new text keeps that line but adds a condition: the restriction holds unless a person chooses to share data from these services with other Google products that support personalised ads, such as Search and the Gemini apps. The stated aim is a more tailored experience, and the policy gives Search as an example of a service that may process such data to personalise content, including ads.
For someone who links their accounts this way, advertisements and recommendations could eventually be shaped by what sits in their inbox, cloud storage or photo library. The report does not claim Google is doing this already, nor how many people have opted in. The change is therefore a consent-based exception rather than a complete reversal, and the earlier promise now covers only those who have not connected these services to ad-supporting products.
Users who want to keep their data apart can review Search personalisation settings, disconnect individual apps from Search's Personal Intelligence features, or turn off personalised recommendations entirely. Much remains unclear, since Google has not yet explained its reasoning or how the data would be used in advertising. Until the company offers that clarification, the settings page is the clearest place for people to see and manage what they have connected.
On October 16, 2026, Google added a clause to its privacy policy that changes what the company had long said about the contents of Gmail, Drive and Photos. Android Authority was the first to report the revision, and Times Now has since laid out what it means for people who use those services.
The earlier wording was a flat assurance: Google would not use information from Gmail, Google Drive or Google Photos to personalise advertising. The new text keeps that line but attaches a condition. The restriction holds, it now says, unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalised ads.
The policy spells out how that choice works. Users may allow certain Google services, among them Search and the Gemini apps, to reach data held in other Google products, including Photos and Workspace apps such as Gmail and Drive. The stated purpose is a more personalised experience, subject to the policies and settings of the service doing the accessing. The policy gives one example: Search may process some of the data a user allows it to see in order to personalise content, including ads.
In practical terms, a person who permits Google Search to draw on their Gmail, Drive or Photos accounts could find that material helping shape the advertisements they are shown, along with other content and recommendations. Times Now describes this as something that may happen eventually, depending on the settings and permissions each user has granted. The report does not say that Google is already doing it, or how many users have connected their accounts this way.
The change, then, is an exception that turns on user consent rather than a blanket reversal. The earlier promise of no personalised ads from these services has been replaced by one that applies only to people who have not linked them to ad-supporting products such as Search.
For users who want to keep the two apart, the controls sit in Google's personalisation settings. People can choose which apps to disconnect from Search's Personal Intelligence features, or switch off personalised recommendations altogether through the Search Services Personalisation settings page. Times Now notes that reviewing these controls lets users decide how much information moves between Google's services and how it is used.
What remains unsettled is detail. The coverage rests on the policy text itself and does not include a statement from Google explaining the reasoning for the edit or how the data would be applied to advertising in practice. Further clarification from the company is the thing to watch, and until it arrives, the settings page is the clearest place for users to see what they have connected.
Citazioni salienti
Search may process some of the data that you allow Search to access to personalize content, including ads.— Google privacy policy
Vuoi la storia completa?
Leggi l'originale su Times Now ↗
Technology