Google has updated its privacy policy so that content from Gmail, Drive and Google Photos can shape personalized ads for people who turn on Personal Intelligence, the opt-in Gemini feature that lets Google's AI tools draw on a user's emails, photos and files. The revised policy carries an effective date of October 16, 2026.
The change is a single conditional clause. The policy previously said Google does not show personalized ads based on content from Drive, Gmail or Google Photos. The new version keeps that sentence and adds a condition: "unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads."
That choice is Personal Intelligence. The feature began a beta rollout in early 2026 and connects Gmail, Photos, Search and Drive so that AI Mode in Search and the Gemini apps can answer questions using a person's own data. The updated policy includes a new note using a hotel booking as an example of how Search might use details from an email.
Key facts
- 01Google's privacy policy update took effect October 16, 2026.
- 02Gmail, Drive and Photos content can now inform personalized ads for users who enable Personal Intelligence.
- 03Since July 2021 the policy had said Google does not personalize ads based on content from those three services.
- 04Google says advertisers get no access to inboxes or photo libraries and no names or email addresses without permission.
- 05Ads still won't be personalized on sensitive categories such as race, religion, sexual orientation or health.
The blanket exclusion dates to July 2021. The original version of that pledge carried no exception for any feature or setting.
Google's help pages set out the limits. They state that "Ads will not be based directly on your Gmail inbox or your Google Photos library," and that advertisers do not get access to either. Search may instead use summaries, excerpts and inferences drawn from that content, and the help page acknowledges that a summary can sometimes be the entire email or file.
Google says it still does not share personally identifying details such as names or email addresses with advertisers without permission. It also says it continues to exclude sensitive categories, including race, religion, sexual orientation and health, from ad personalization.
The update lines up with Google's ad tests inside AI Mode. Google reportedly began testing ads in AI Mode for users who connect apps through Personal Intelligence around October 16. In March 2026, Google had said AI Mode with Personal Intelligence carried no ads.
Gemini itself is a separate question. Google VP Dan Taylor said in January 2026 that there are no ads in the Gemini app and no current plans to change that. The October 16 policy text does not address ads in Gemini Apps.
Personal Intelligence remains opt-in, and the policy describes that status as applying "for the time being." Google search chief Nick Fox described the feature as opt-in in an April interview and said not all users enable it.
Users who have turned the feature on can review the setting under Data & privacy, then Personalization settings, then Manage Personalized Recommendations in Search services, or switch off Personalized Recommendations entirely.
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