Google's privacy policy now lets Gmail and Photos data shape ads: what changed on October 16, what Personal Intelligence is, and what you can turn off

Google's privacy policy on Gmail ads changed on October 16, 2026. The new version says Google may show you personalized ads based on content from Gmail, Drive and Google Photos if you connect those apps to other Google services that support personalized ads. Before the change, the policy said flatly that it didn't. The main way that connection happens is Personal Intelligence, the opt-in feature that lets Search's AI Mode and Google Gemini draw on your email and photos. Google's help pages say ads won't be based "directly" on your inbox, but on what Search learns from it.

This guide is based on Google's redline comparison of the October 1 and October 16, 2026 versions of its privacy policy, Google's Search and Gemini help pages on Personal Intelligence, the Gemini Apps Privacy Hub, My Ad Center help, and a note Google added on October 16 to its 2017 Gmail ads announcement, all checked October 25, 2026. For the wider set of AI settings you can switch off at Google, see how to turn off AI on Google.

The short version

• What changed: Google's policy still says "We don't show you personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Google Photos," but now adds "unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads."
• How it happens: if you let Search (or Gemini) access Gmail, Drive or Photos, "Search may process some of the data that you allow Search to access to personalize content, including ads," the new policy says.
• What Google says isn't happening: ads "will not be based directly on your Gmail inbox or your Google Photos library," and advertisers don't get access to them, per Google's Personal Intelligence help page. Gemini Apps chats "are not being used to show you ads," per its Gemini privacy hub.
• It's opt-in: nothing changes unless you connect apps. You can disconnect them at any time.
• Effective date: October 16, 2026. The previous version took effect October 1, 2026.

What exactly changed in Google's privacy policy?

Google publishes a redline of every version. The October 16 comparison shows these changes, quoted from Google's own markup:

Last verified: October 25, 2026

The policy also keeps its existing line: "We don't show you personalized ads based on sensitive categories, such as race, religion, sexual orientation, or health."

Does Google read your Gmail to show you ads?

Not directly, according to Google, but information derived from it can now shape ads. Google's Search help page on Personal Intelligence says:

• "Ads will not be based directly on your Gmail inbox or your Google Photos library."
• "Search may reference summaries, excerpts and inferences from these sources to personalize your experience and do things for you."
• "That same info may be used to show you ads, so they are even more helpful for you."
• "If you connect your content apps to Search Services, advertisers will not have access to your Gmail inbox or Google Photos."

That's a change in Google's position. On June 23, 2017, Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene wrote that "Consumer Gmail content will not be used or scanned for any ads personalization." On October 16, 2026, Google added a note to that post saying that if users enable features that connect Workspace apps to other Google services, "that same subset of data can also be used to show ads," depending on their settings.

Three months earlier, Google described things differently. Fast Company (in its Middle East edition) reported on July 28, 2026, that a Google spokesperson, Allie Bodack, said using Personal Intelligence to target ads elsewhere was "not the case today."

What is Google Personal Intelligence?

Personal Intelligence is Google's name for letting its AI features use your own Google data. Google launched it in the Gemini app on January 14, 2026, for US AI Pro and Ultra subscribers, as our explainer on AI memory covers. It now appears in two places:

• Search's AI Mode: uses your Search history and, if you connect them, Gmail and Google Calendar (as Google Workspace) and Google Photos. The privacy policy's example: if you ask about a recent hotel booking, "Search may use information about booking details from an email to help suggest things to do near your hotel." It requires a personal account, age 18 or older, and is offered in many countries; Photos isn't available in all regions.
• The Gemini app: connects Google Workspace and Google Photos, along with apps such as Contacts, YouTube and Search services. Google's Gemini help page says it isn't available in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or Nigeria, or to work, school or supervised accounts.

Google's Search help page also says Search doesn't directly train generative models on your Gmail, Drive, Calendar or Photos library, but may use "summaries, excerpts, generated media, and inferences" from that data to answer prompts and to train models.

How do I stop Google from using Gmail and Photos data for ads?

These steps come from Google's help pages, checked October 25, 2026. Menu labels can differ by device and region, and Google's Search help page warns that it's updating the settings for Search services, so they "may not match your current experience."

1. Disconnect apps from Search. On a computer, open Search Services Personalization in your Google Account, go to Additional Personal Intelligence, then Connected Content Apps, and disconnect Google Workspace and Google Photos. The connection covers all Search services, including AI Mode and Ask Maps in Google Maps. Google says disconnecting "doesn't delete any data from your Search Services History"; manage or delete that history at activity.google.com.

2. Disconnect apps from Gemini. In the Gemini mobile app, tap Menu, then your profile picture, then Personal Intelligence › Connected Apps, and turn off Google Workspace or Google Photos. On gemini.google.com, open Menu › Settings & help › Personal Intelligence › Connected Apps. Google notes that information found in past chats may remain until you delete those chats from Gemini Apps Activity.

3. Turn off Gmail's cross-product smart features. Google's Search help page lists "Smart features in other Google products" as a requirement for connecting Gmail. It's in Gmail under Settings › See all settings › General › Google Workspace smart features › Manage Workspace smart feature settings. Turning it off also affects other features that rely on it.

4. Turn off personalized ads. In My Ad Center (myadcenter.google.com), Google says you "can turn personalised ads on or off on Google services at any time." With them off, Google says ads are chosen from broad context such as the time of day or the topic of the page or app you're using, not your account activity.

Last verified: October 25, 2026

Does this affect Gemini chats?

Google says no, as of October 23, 2026. Its Gemini Apps Privacy Hub, updated October 23, 2026, says: "Your Gemini Apps chats are not being used to show you ads," and that Google would communicate any change. The new privacy policy text names "Search or Gemini Apps" as services you might connect, but its ads example is Search.

Why it matters

The change follows a pattern 9to5AI has tracked in other AI products: features that get more useful with more personal data also widen what that data can be used for. Opt-in matters, but so do the prompts that steer people toward opting in. Fast Company's July 28 report noted that Google has shown pop-ups in the Gemini app encouraging users to turn Personal Intelligence on. For a different case of personal data exposure through an AI app, see what happened with Meta Muse share links, and for how websites are pushing back on AI agents, see our report on sites blocking agents.

What's confirmed, reported and uncertain

• Confirmed (Google's policy and help pages): the October 16, 2026 wording; that connecting apps is a choice; Google's statements that ads won't be based directly on your inbox or Photos library and that advertisers don't get access; that Gemini Apps chats aren't used for ads.
• Reported: Google's July 2026 statement that Personal Intelligence wasn't then used to target ads (Fast Company).
• Uncertain: whether ads based on connected-app data are already running, and in which countries; how "summaries, excerpts and inferences" are turned into ad interests. Google's pages don't say.