GOOGLE has quietly updated its privacy policy to create a potential back door for personalised advertising linked to Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos. The change, made on 16 October, adds an exception to Google’s long-standing promise not to show personalised ads based on content from those services when a user enables Personal Intelligence and connects it to AI Mode with sponsored ads. In effect, data from private emails, files and images could influence ad targeting indirectly through context used in AI responses and searches.
The article explains how Personal Intelligence works across the apps and how AI Mode could use that cross‑app data to shape answers and, by extension, the ads that accompany them. Google says the data connection is opt‑in, ads remain related to search terms and user interests, and raw data from Gmail or Photos is not handed to advertisers or used to build a long‑term mailbox or photo library profile. Nevertheless, critics argue that contextual data generated by private content can still influence ads.
The piece also outlines how to disable Personal Intelligence: via the Gemini app Settings to turn off connected apps, or through Google Account settings under Data and privacy and Personalization, followed by clearing activity in My Activity.