Updated Google privacy policy says your Gmail might be used for advertising

Google updated its privacy policy on October 16, and the new wording suggests that data from services such as Gmail, Drive, and Photos could be used to personalize ads when that information is shared with other company tools. Previously, the policy stated that content from those apps would not be used for targeted advertising. The change removes that restriction and opens the possibility that, through a mechanism called Personal Intelligence, data supplied to Google’s AI products could be analyzed and used to improve ad targeting. Personal Intelligence, launched early in 2026, lets users provide AI systems with information from multiple services to get more contextualized answers, but it also raises privacy concerns by combining personal data with marketing purposes. The company maintains that the goal is to deliver more accurate results, yet the ambiguity of the new clause creates uncertainty about the actual scope of data use. This development matters because it affects millions of users who rely on the protection of their emails and files, and it raises questions about balancing AI innovation with privacy safeguards on large-scale platforms.

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