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

[AFEH]

Content source

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/10/updated-google-privacy-policy-says-your-gmail-might-be-used-for-advertising/

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

 

[Captain Awesome]

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

What's new in this? Google never step way from show you advertisements using your data. To protect your Gmail and Photos data from being used to inform Google's AI-driven advertising, you must disable Google's "Personal Intelligence" feature and disconnect your Workspace apps.

 

[TairikuOkami]

What's new in this? Google never step way from show you advertisements using your data.

Indeed, one of the huge advantages of having an account, companies have to obey the privacy laws or face lawsuits. I have all scripted features off, including "SMART" ones.

https://myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy

 

[Ice Dream']

Same thing as with every single product of theirs, ads, bloat and invasive pursue goals. I remember when I tried to use G Voice just to notice that isn't available in every country, and also to see that those things that i do with, get sent back to them, and iirc along the EULA, there was a rule stating that they shouldn't use you for marketing purposes.

 

[Ice Dream']

I let then let it go and just bought Proton services for space/mail.

 

[AFEH]

Same thing as with every single product of theirs, ads, bloat and invasive pursue goals. I remember when I tried to use G Voice just to notice that isn't available in every country, and also to see that those things that i do with, get sent back to them, and iirc along the EULA, there was a rule stating that they shouldn't use you for marketing purposes.

They are just collecting the fees of the so-called "free" service

 

[spaceoctopus]

Google doing google things!

 

[Captain Awesome]

I let then let it go and just bought Proton services for space/mail.

Also Zoho Mail is completely ad-free across all its plans, including the free tier.

 

[Brahman]

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

what more can you expect from an advertisement company, even though it's not the core business now, the DNA is still intact.

 

[AFEH]

Also Zoho Mail is completely ad-free across all its plans, including the free tier.

Proton has alias feature.

 

[Captain Awesome]

Proton has alias feature.

Zoho Mail also has an email alias feature that lets you create up to 30 additional email addresses for a single user account.

 

[AFEH]

Zoho Mail also has an email alias feature that lets you create up to 30 additional email addresses for a single user account.

Paid, not free.

 

[Ice Dream']

what's great about proton
is their transparency
because of this you can use it for multiple purposes
and their server are hosted in netherlands and switzerland
there no reason not to use it. even for the average joe
proton idea reminds me of yahoo back in 2013

 

[Captain Awesome]

Paid, not free.

the email alias feature is free to use in Zoho Mail, including on the Zoho Free Plan.

 

[AFEH]

the email alias feature is free to use in Zoho Mail, including on the Zoho Free Plan.

I had a free Zoho email for a while before deleting the account; alias feature was paywalled among other extra features.

 

[Captain Awesome]

I had a free Zoho email for a while before deleting the account; alias feature was paywalled among other extra features.

You must use your own custom domain (e.g., info@yourcompany.com). The free plan allows you to add one custom domain, and you can create free aliases under it. If you are using a personal, generic @zoho.com account, the alias system is completely unavailable