Incident #BC391A · 16 OCT 2026notable
YouTube policy lets Google services share your Gmail, Photos and Drive data for personalization, if you opt in
The privacy policy now says you may let services like Search or Gemini Apps access data from other Google services such as Google Photos, Gmail and Drive for more personalized experiences. The earlier flat promise not to show ads based on Drive, Gmail or Photos content now has an exception: if you choose to make that data available to other Google services that support personalized ads. Personalized ads may also draw on personalized content from Google services.
Taken from you
- Unconditional promise of no personalized ads based on Drive, Gmail or Photos content is now conditional on your choice
- Ads may be based on personalized content from Google services, not just interests and activity
Won back
- Optional features (e.g. Personal Intelligence) that use your other Google data for personalization
- Wording stating access is subject to your settings and the accessing service's policies
Evidence · 4 of 4 quotes matched in source
* 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.+ inserted · ✓ matched in source
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+ inserted · ✓ matched in source
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.+ inserted · ✓ matched in source
Archived version ↗ · 325 words changed