On October 16, Google issued an update to its privacy policy, spotted by Android Authority.
The ad personalization section used to include a clear limit on data from certain apps.
This equivocation opens the door to using data from apps like Gmail and Photos in ads when it’s shared with other Google services, and it just so happens Google has a mechanism for doing that, with Personal Intelligence.
The company released Personal Intelligence in early 2026, allowing users to hand data from multiple apps to Google AI products.
The idea is that the added context from your existing data will lead to better AI answers, but it’s also proving to be a privacy minefield.
Updated Google privacy policy says your Gmail might be used for advertising
Turning on Personal Intelligence gives the company more data for ad targeting.
arstechnica.com
