Google Privacy Policy
Google changed how it handles data across its own services. Previously, your Gmail, Drive, and Google Photos content was walled off from being used for ads or cross-service personalization. Now Google is introducing an opt-in setting that lets services like Search or Gemini Apps pull data from Photos, Gmail, and Drive to personalize your experience, including the ads you see. A new 'Personal Intelligence' feature is also introduced that uses this cross-service data.
Your Gmail, Drive, and Photos data can now flow to other Google services
Up to now, content in Gmail, Drive, and Google Photos was kept separate from things like ad targeting and other services' personalization. Google is now building in a setting that, once turned on, lets services like Search or Gemini Apps pull information from those other services to personalize your experience and ads. Even though it requires you to opt in, it's a significant new capability that didn't exist before, and settings like this are often bundled or easy to enable without fully realizing the scope.
“You may choose to allow certain Google services, including services like Search or Gemini Apps, to access data from other Google services you use, such as Google Photos and Workspace apps like Gmail and Drive, in order to provide you with a more personalized experience, subject to the policies and settings of the accessing service.”
What you can do — Check your Google Account settings (e.g., in My Ad Center or the relevant service's settings) to see if any cross-service data sharing has been enabled, and turn it off if you don't want your Gmail, Drive, or Photos content used elsewhere.
Ad-targeting carve-out added to the Drive/Gmail/Photos protection
Google's firm promise not to use your Drive, Gmail, or Photos content for ad personalization now has a loophole: if you opt into cross-service sharing, that content can be used to target ads after all.
“We don't show you personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Google Photos, unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads.”
What you can do — Avoid opting into cross-service data sharing if you want to keep your Drive, Gmail, and Photos content out of ad targeting.
New 'Personal Intelligence' feature uses data across services
Google introduced a feature (Personal Intelligence) that combines data from different services you use, such as reading your email to tailor suggestions in Search. This means more of your personal activity across different apps can be pulled together and analyzed.
“If you choose to allow certain services to process data from other services, including for features such as Personal Intelligence, the same data may be used to personalize your experience.”
What you can do — Review the Personal Intelligence settings and disable the feature if you don't want your data combined across Google services.
| 75 | 75 | ### Develop new services |
| 76 | 76 | |
| 77 | 77 | We use the information we collect in existing services to help us develop new ones. For example, understanding how people organized their photos in Picasa, Google's first photos app, helped us design and launch Google Photos. |
| 78 | 78 | |
| 79 | 79 | ### Provide personalized services, including content and ads |
| 80 | 80 | |
| 81 | We use the information we collect to customize our services for you, including providing recommendations, personalized content, and [customized search results](https://policies.google.com/privacy). For example, [Security Checkup](https://myaccount.google.com/security-checkup) provides security tips adapted to how you use Google products. And, depending on your available settings, Google Play could use information like apps you've already installed and videos you've watched on YouTube to suggest new apps you might like. | |
| 81 | We use the information we collect to customize our services for you, including providing recommendations, personalized content, and [customized search results](https://policies.google.com/privacy). For example, [Security Checkup](https://myaccount.google.com/security-checkup) provides security tips adapted to how you use Google products. And, depending on your available settings, Google Play could use information like apps you've already installed and videos you've watched on YouTube to suggest new apps you might like. You may choose to allow certain Google services, including services like Search or Gemini Apps, to access data from other Google services you use, such as Google Photos and Workspace apps like Gmail and Drive, in order to provide you with a more personalized experience, subject to the policies and settings of the accessing service. For example, Search may process some of the data that you allow Search to access to [personalize content](https://policies.google.com/privacy), including ads. | |
+ ADDEDNew opt-in cross-service data access for personalization Google added a new option letting you allow services like Search or Gemini Apps to pull in data from other Google services you use, such as Photos, Gmail, and Drive, to make your experience more personalized. | ||
| 82 | 82 | |
| 83 | Depending on your settings, we may also show you [personalized ads](https://policies.google.com/privacy) based on your interests and activity across Google services. For example, if you search for "mountain bikes," you may see ads for sports equipment on YouTube. You can control what information we use to show you ads by visiting your ad settings in [My Ad Center](https://myadcenter.google.com/). | |
| 83 | Depending on your settings, we may also show you [personalized ads](https://policies.google.com/privacy) based on your interests, activity, or personalized content from Google services. For example, if you search for "mountain bikes," in Search you may see ads for sports equipment on YouTube. You can control what information we use to show you ads by visiting your ad settings in [My Ad Center](https://myadcenter.google.com/). | |
| 84 | 84 | |
| 85 | 85 | - We don't show you personalized ads based on [sensitive categories](https://policies.google.com/privacy), such as race, religion, sexual orientation, or health. |
| 86 | - We don't show you personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Photos. | |
| 86 | - We don't show you personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Google Photos, unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads. | |
± CHANGEDAd personalization can now draw on Photos, Gmail, and Drive content if you opt in Google previously promised it would never use your Drive, Gmail, or Photos content to personalize ads. That promise now has an exception: if you choose to share data between services, that content can be used for ad personalization. | ||
| 87 | 87 | - We don't share information that personally identifies you with advertisers, such as your name or email, unless you ask us to. For example, if you see an ad for a nearby flower shop and select the "tap to call" button, we'll connect your call and may share your phone number with the flower shop. |
| 88 | 88 | |
| 89 | 89 | ### Measure performance |
| 90 | 90 | |
| 91 | 91 | We use data for analytics and measurement to understand how our services are used. For example, we analyze data about your visits to our sites to do things like optimize product design. And we also use data about the ads you interact with, including your related Google Search activity, to help advertisers understand the [performance of their ad campaigns](https://policies.google.com/privacy). We use a variety of tools to do this, including ad and analytics services. When you visit sites or use apps that use Google's ad or analytics services, those services may [link information](https://policies.google.com/privacy) about your activity from that site or app with activity from other sites or apps that use our services. |
| 92 | 92 | |
| 635 | 635 | We may also use payment information to verify that you meet age requirements, if, for example, you enter an incorrect birthday indicating you're not old enough to have a Google Account. [Learn more](https://support.google.com/accounts) |
| 636 | 636 | |
| 637 | 637 | ### Performance of their ad campaigns. |
| 638 | 638 | |
| 639 | 639 | [Learn more](https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads) about the technologies used for advertising. |
| 640 | 640 | |
| 641 | ### personalize content | |
| 642 | ||
| 643 | If you choose to allow certain services to process data from other services, including for features such as Personal Intelligence, the same data may be used to personalize your experience. For example, if you ask Search a question about a recent hotel booking, Search may use information about booking details from an email to help suggest things to do near your hotel. [Learn more about Personal Intelligence](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/16859283). | |
+ ADDEDNew 'Personal Intelligence' feature described A new glossary entry explains a feature called Personal Intelligence, where data from one service (like an email about a hotel booking) can be used by another service (like Search) to make suggestions. | ||
| 644 | ||
| 641 | 645 | ### personalized ads |
| 642 | 646 | |
| 643 | 647 | You may also see personalized ads based on information from the advertiser. If you shopped on an advertiser's website, for example, they can use that visit information to show you ads. [Learn more](https://support.google.com/accounts) |
| 644 | 648 | |
| 645 | 649 | ### phone number |
| 646 | 650 | |
ALSO IN THIS CHANGE, NOT TIED TO ONE LINE
- ± CHANGEDBasis for personalized ads broadened
The description of what personalized ads are based on expanded from just your interests and cross-service activity to also include 'personalized content' generated by Google services.
we may also show you personalized ads based on your interests and activity across Google services
we may also show you personalized ads based on your interests, activity, or personalized content from Google services