Google has changed its privacy policy so that data from Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos may be used to personalise ads when people use personalised AI features. The Verge reports the change.
The policy change in brief
Google’s privacy policy explains what data the company collects, how it uses that data and what choices users have. For a long time it has included a specific promise: content held in Drive, Gmail and Google Photos would not be used to show people personalised advertising. That promise separated the services where people keep private material, such as emails, documents and personal pictures, from the advertising business that funds most of Google’s free products.
The Verge, citing a report first spotted by Android Authority, says the updated policy adds an exception to that promise. The exception covers people who use Google’s personalised AI features. Data from these services could then feed into ad targeting, so someone using those features might see adverts shaped by their personal content.
The source material does not say exactly which data would be used, which ad formats would be affected or which countries the change applies to. The update also does not mean Google has said it is already doing this. It means the policy now leaves room for it to happen.
Background to the promise
Google earns most of its money from advertising. Personalised advertising relies on signals about a person, such as searches, viewing habits, location and declared interests, to choose which ads to show. Personal communication services raise particular sensitivities. Emails can contain medical, financial and legal details, and photo libraries can reveal family life, travel and health.
Concern about automated scanning of private content for advertising led Google to make a public commitment to keep Gmail content out of ad personalisation. The same assurance came to cover Drive and Photos. The commitment became part of the trust case for these products, especially as businesses and schools adopted them.
The arrival of generative AI assistants has put pressure on that separation. To be useful, a personal AI assistant often needs to read a user’s emails, files and photos, for example to summarise a thread, find a booking or recall a past event. Once an AI feature has processed this material, it becomes harder to draw a firm line between the assistant and the rest of the company’s systems. The policy exception reported by The Verge is where that tension now shows up in writing.
How the exception appears to work
From the reporting, the exception is tied to personalised AI features rather than to every user of Gmail, Drive or Photos. A person who never switches on those features would, on this reading, still fall under the original promise. A person who does switch them on would fall under the new exception.
Several practical details are not known from the source material:
- whether the AI features involved are on by default or need a person to opt in;
- whether a separate control exists to turn off ad personalisation from this data while still using the AI features;
- whether raw content, summaries or inferred interests would be passed to advertising systems;
- whether paid accounts, workplace accounts or education accounts are treated differently;
- how the change interacts with data protection laws in different regions.
Google’s existing account settings already include controls for ad personalisation and for activity history. Readers can review these in their Google Account, though it is not confirmed how they relate to this particular exception.
Common misunderstandings
“Google is now reading everyone’s email for ads.” The reported change is an exception tied to personalised AI features, not a blanket reversal for every user. Its scope matters, and the full details have not been set out in the source material.
“A privacy policy change means the practice has already started.” Policies often describe what a company is allowed to do rather than what it is doing at a given moment. Wording that permits a use is not proof that the use is under way.
“Personalised ads mean humans are reading your messages.” Ad targeting is usually automated. The privacy concern is about what automated systems infer and keep, rather than about staff reading individual emails. Automation does not make the concern smaller, but it is a different kind of concern.
“Turning off ad personalisation solves everything.” General ad settings may or may not cover this exception. Until Google documents the relationship, people should not assume one switch controls every data flow.
“This only affects Gmail.” The reporting names Drive and Google Photos as well, which together can hold a large share of a person’s digital life.
Where to look next
The most reliable primary document is Google’s own privacy policy. Google publishes past versions so that readers can compare wording over time, and the section on advertising and the passage about Drive, Gmail and Photos are the relevant parts. Google’s support pages for its AI features and for ad settings may set out the controls in more practical terms.
The original reporting from Android Authority and The Verge provides the context for the change. For the regulatory side, data protection authorities, such as national regulators in Europe and the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office, publish guidance on consent and on using personal data for advertising. Digital rights organisations also follow changes like this one and often publish analysis of what new policy wording allows.
Anyone using workplace or school accounts should check with their administrator. These accounts are often governed by separate contracts that can differ from consumer terms.
Frequently asked questions
Does Google use Gmail to target ads?
Google has long said that Gmail content is not used to personalise ads. According to The Verge, an updated privacy policy now adds an exception for people using Google’s personalised AI features, meaning Gmail data could be used for ad targeting in that context. The reporting does not confirm that this is already happening or say exactly what data would be involved.
Which Google services are covered by the policy change?
The reported exception applies to Google Drive, Gmail and Google Photos. These were the three services covered by Google’s earlier promise not to use their content for personalised advertising. The exception is linked to the use of personalised AI features. Which specific features count, and in which countries, is not set out in the source material.
Can I stop Google using my personal data for ads?
Google offers ad personalisation controls and activity settings in the Google Account dashboard, and reviewing them is a sensible step. Whether those controls cover the new AI-related exception has not been confirmed. People who want to limit the exposure of their data could also check whether they have switched on personalised AI features, since the exception is reportedly tied to them.
Does this change apply to work or school Google accounts?
This is not known from the available reporting. Workplace and education accounts are often governed by separate agreements between Google and the organisation, and those agreements can include their own data-use terms. Anyone using such an account should ask the organisation’s IT administrator or check its published policies, rather than assuming the consumer privacy policy applies in the same way.
Why would AI features affect advertising?
Personalised AI assistants work by reading a user’s emails, documents and photos to answer questions or complete tasks. Once that material has been processed, the insights drawn from it could in principle be useful to other systems, including advertising. The policy exception suggests Google wants the option to connect the two. The exact mechanism has not been described publicly in the source material.
Sources and further reading
- The Verge: reporting on the privacy policy update and its link to personalised AI features
- Android Authority: the outlet credited with first spotting the policy change
- Google privacy policy and archived versions: the primary text for comparing old and new wording
- UK Information Commissioner’s Office: guidance on consent and personal data in online advertising
Surfaced from the rss:verge signal “tech privacy policy change”. AI-assisted draft, editorially reviewed.
