Overview
- Google quietly revised its privacy policy effective October 16, 2026 to add an exception allowing content from Gmail, Drive and Google Photos to help personalize ads if users choose to share that data with other Google services.
- The change specifically ties ad personalization to Personal Intelligence, Google’s opt‑in feature that lets Search, Gemini and AI Mode access connected apps to give more tailored answers and recommendations.
- Google says advertisers will not receive raw emails, photos or personally identifying fields and that sensitive categories like race, religion and health will not be used to target ads.
- Users can stop this by disconnecting apps from Personal Intelligence or turning off Personalized Recommendations in My Account settings, though reports note signals already stored in Search Services History may persist after disconnecting.
- Personal Intelligence is rolling out in beta with regional exceptions and the policy shift intensifies scrutiny over how AI features and ad systems share processed user data and could prompt regulatory review.