The exception in the policy text
Google changed its privacy policy as of October 16. The company previously said it would not use Drive, Gmail and Google Photos data for personalized ads. The new text says that promise holds "unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads."
Who is affected
In practice, this means users who connect their Drive, Gmail or Google Photos account to AI Mode and other Search tools may have that data used for ad targeting. Using personalized AI features thus becomes a choice that also affects ad preferences.
Why it matters
Google's pledge not to use personal data for advertising was one of its most-cited privacy commitments. The small exception opens the door to connecting data collected through AI features to the ad ecosystem. The clearest step for users is to check which services are linked together.
