Incident #D4DDAC · 17 OCT 2026notable
Google Maps policy lets users share Gmail, Drive, Photos data across services, including for ads
The policy now says users may allow services like Search or Gemini Apps to access data from Google Photos, Gmail and Drive for personalization. The earlier flat statement that personalized ads are not based on Drive, Gmail or Photos content now has an exception when the user makes that data available to other Google services that support personalized ads. A new section describes Personal Intelligence, where email details may be used to personalize Search answers.
Taken from you
- Unconditional promise that ads are never personalized from Drive, Gmail or Photos content, now conditional on user choice
- Ads may now draw on personalized content from Google services if you allow cross-service data access
Won back
- Policy explicitly says cross-service access depends on your choice and on the settings of the accessing service
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