The ad exception for Gmail and Photos data in Google's privacy policy

The version of Google's privacy policy that took effect on 16 October adds an exception to the sentence saying Google does not show personalized ads based on content from Drive, Gmail or Photos. The exception applies when users choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads, and people who have not made that choice are outside it. The example given in the policy's additional context is Personal Intelligence, which, according to a Google Search help page, people aged 18 or over who are signed in to a personal Google Account can turn on themselves. As of 1 November, the supported countries and territories on that page included Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, and connecting Google Photos is not available in every region.

According to The Verge's report of 23 October, people who have already used Personal Intelligence to connect Gmail or Photos to AI Mode (a search feature that answers questions conversationally) and other Search tools may now see ads based on the content of their email and photos. Google's comparison of the two versions shows that the 1 October text did not have the closing clause "unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads". A new sentence states that users may allow Search or Gemini Apps to access data from Photos, Gmail and Drive, and that Search may process some of that data to personalize content, including ads. The sentence on ads also changed from ads based on "interests and activity" to ads based on "interests, activity, or personalized content from Google services".

In the example in the policy's additional context, a user asks Search about a recent hotel booking, and Search may use booking details from an email to suggest things to do near the hotel. According to the Search help page, connecting once gives all Search services access to Gmail and Photos, including Google Search, AI Mode, Discover (the feed of recommended articles on the Google app's home screen), Maps, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Translate and News. Drive, which the policy mentions, was not among the apps that could be connected on the help page when we checked on 1 November. Ask Maps in Google Maps (a feature for asking about routes and places conversationally) can also be connected to Gmail, and as of 1 November its listed regions in Asia were only India, Japan and Indonesia, not Taiwan.

Perspective

The first sentence of Google's full statement, published by Ars Technica on 23 October, is that connecting apps is entirely opt-in. The statement goes on to say that ads will continue to be relevant to things like the query, the context of the response and the user's interests, and will not be based directly on the Gmail inbox or Photos library. According to the Q&A on the Search help page, advertisers do not get access to the inbox or Photos, and Google does not show personalized ads based on sensitive categories such as race, religion, sexual orientation or health. As of 1 November, we found statements only from Google and the press, with no public response from advocacy groups or data protection authorities.

The help page's answer on ads likewise says ads will not be based directly on the inbox or Photos library, then adds that Search may reference summaries, excerpts and inferences from these sources to personalize the experience, and that "That same info may be used to show you ads". Read this way, ads are not based on the inbox or library themselves, while the summaries, excerpts and inferences Search derives from email and photos may be used for ads. The same page's answer on training AI models includes an example of how Search pulls email and photos together. When a user asks AI Mode to suggest restaurants for an upcoming trip, the models might look at emails and photos for the hotel reservation and flight itinerary, then summarize that information into recommendations.

According to the help page, Search services do not train generative AI models directly on the Gmail inbox or on imagery and audio from the Photos library. The page goes on to state that when users interact with Search, summaries, excerpts and inferences from relevant emails, files and media are used to train the models. Where an email is brief or particularly relevant to the question, the summary may be the email itself. Once apps are connected, a subset of the data processed by AI Mode and Ask Maps is reviewed by human reviewers, including trained service providers.

We, a community based in Taiwan, looked at how the feature is offered in Asia, which The Verge's report does not cover. As of 1 November, the Search help page's supported countries and territories for connecting content apps included, among others, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, with Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Japanese and Korean among the languages, and mainland China was not on the list. For the Gemini version, GIGAZINE reported that Google Japan posted on X on 14 April 2026 that Personal Intelligence in Gemini had begun a phased rollout in Japan, to be completed within a week. For Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan we found no official launch announcement for the Gemini version, and the Gemini help page gives no country list.

None of the following provisions or policy plans is aimed at features that connect email or photos to ads, and we did not check how any of them would apply here, but they point in different directions. Taiwan and mainland China work through refusal, with Article 20 of Taiwan's Personal Data Protection Act requiring a non-government entity that markets with personal data to stop once the person objects and to offer a way to object the first time, and Article 24 of mainland China's Personal Information Protection Law requiring marketing through automated decision-making to come with an option that does not target personal characteristics or a convenient way to refuse. Under a policy plan South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission published on 31 January 2024, by contrast, advertisers that do not identify a specific person may process online behavioural data without consent, provided that accumulating, overlapping or combining the data does not make anyone identifiable, while identifying a person requires consent. We could not find whether the revised guidelines the Commission planned to issue by the end of 2024 are in force, and readers can ask whether a way to refuse, an option not to be targeted or a consent requirement tied to identification reaches ads shaped by summaries and inferences from data a user connected for a different feature.

People who have not connected Gmail or Photos to Search or Gemini do not need to change any settings. Those who have can follow the Search help page: on a computer, go to Search Services Personalization in the Google Account, then Additional Personal Intelligence > Connected Content Apps, to review or disconnect them. Anyone who wants to try the feature first turns on Personalized Recommendations in the same place and then connects, and the actual screens may differ from the instructions (as of 1 November, a banner at the top of the help page said the settings are being updated). In Gemini the connections are under Settings & help > Personal Intelligence > Connected Apps at the bottom of gemini.google.com, and the service named in the policy as processing this data to personalize content, including ads, is Search, with no mention of Gemini.

The connection settings in Search cover whether Gmail and Photos data is made available to Search, and My Ad Center is a separate set of controls. Under the policy, the ad settings in My Ad Center control what information Google uses to show ads, but the My Ad Center help page does not say whether its personalized ads switch covers connected data. Besides connecting the apps, the Search help page requires turning on Smart features in other Google products in Gmail as a condition for personalized responses. According to the Gmail help page, this setting controls the use of Workspace data in other Google products, and the page does not mention Photos or ads.

Going by the example in the policy's additional context (our inference), features such as suggesting plans from hotel booking details in an email work only once the apps are connected, and disconnecting removes them. According to the Search help page, data already saved in Search Services History is not deleted when an app is disconnected and can still be used for product improvement, including training generative AI models.