For years Google has repeated that ads are not based on the content of Gmail, Drive or Photos. With the privacy policy updated on 16 October, that statement now has an exception: it holds unless the user chooses to make that data available to other Google services that support personalised ads. In practice, anyone who turns on Personal Intelligence opens a door that was previously shut.
What has changed
Personal Intelligence is the feature that lets Gemini and Search (AI Mode in particular) draw on connected apps, such as Gmail, Calendar and Photos, to give more tailored answers. It is opt-in: it does not switch itself on.
Google has also confirmed that it is testing ads inside Search’s AI Mode for people who have connected their apps. In March the company had said this experience would remain ad-free, so this is a U-turn on what it said then.
The delicate point: “directly”
The updated help page distinguishes between direct and indirect use. Ads, Google says, are not based directly on your inbox or your Photos library. However, Search can use summaries, excerpts and inferences drawn from those sources to personalise answers and to show ads.
The difference is subtle. If the AI infers from a receipt in Gmail that you are interested in a certain brand of running shoes, that inference can influence what you see, even though the email is never “read” by the advertiser.
What Google promises
- Advertisers have no access to connected apps and do not see identifying data such as your name or email address without your consent.
- No ad personalisation based on sensitive categories: race, religion, sexual orientation, health.
- You can disconnect the apps at any time.
- Google says it does not train its models directly on your mail or Photos library, but on summaries and inferences derived from them. Some data may be reviewed by people, generally without identifying details.
How to protect yourself
From your Google Account, go to Data & privacy, then to the Search personalisation settings, and switch off personalised recommendations. From there you can also disconnect the content apps. Also check the smart features in Gmail’s settings.
Two practical warnings. Switching off personalised ads from My Ad Center is not enough to stop the processing of connected-app data. And disconnecting an app does not delete what has already been stored: that activity has to be deleted separately from Google’s My Activity.
Does it apply in Italy too?
Google has not made clear in which markets the AI Mode ad test is under way, and the availability of Personal Intelligence varies from country to country: the Android Auto version, for example, currently excludes the European Economic Area and Switzerland. Anyone living in Italy or Switzerland should check in their account whether the feature is available before worrying.
What we think
The move was predictable: an assistant that knows your purchases and your photos is also the best advertising profiler imaginable, and Google lives off advertising. The problem is not so much the existence of ads as the way the change has been presented. A historic promise, “we don’t use Gmail for ads”, is made conditional by a clause that many users will not read, and the distinction between direct use and inferences is hard to verify from the outside.
The advice is simple. If you use Personal Intelligence for its concrete benefits, such as finding a ticket or a document in your mail, be aware that the price includes advertising personalisation. If you are not convinced, keep the feature switched off: that is precisely why it is opt-in. Anyone who has already turned it on would do well to take a look at their settings today.
Written by the SpazioiTech newsroom with the help of AI tools, from facts verified across at least two independent outlets, and checked before publication. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Translated from the Italian original. Read in Italian
