Personal data for advertising purposes: Google relaxes regulations
Google is changing its privacy policy. Content from Gmail, Drive, and Google Photos may in the future also contribute to the personalization of advertising if you share it with other Google services.
In mid-October, Google updated its privacy policy. In it, the search engine giant explains the conditions under which it may use your personal data from Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos in the future. A new addition is an explicit exception for personalized advertising. Google may use certain information from these services for this purpose if you share it with other Google services that support personalized advertising. However, this is not without restrictions.
Data protection principle softened
While Google maintains the principle that content from Gmail, Drive, and Photos is not included in personalized advertising by default, the company has granted itself an exception. This applies when you share data from these services with other Google services.
In concrete terms: If, for example, you book a flight to Mallorca and receive a confirmation via email, Google will not use this information. However, if you use Gemini with Personal Intelligence enabled, the content may be used for targeted advertising. For instance, if you ask Gemini what you should pack in your suitcase for your summer vacation, it will read your booking confirmation.
The content (that you are vacationing at a specific hotel in Mallorca in August) can now serve as advertising material. You might see ads for sunscreen or airlines on YouTube or in Google search results. The same applies if you link Gemini with Google Photos and ask questions about a specific image.
Source: Android Authority
According to Google, advertisers do not receive personally identifiable information such as your name or email address unless you consent to it. Furthermore, Google excludes sensitive categories such as religion, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, or health from ad personalization.
What does this mean for Switzerland and the EU?
Personal Intelligence is currently not available in Switzerland and the EU. However, the new privacy policy applies here as well. As soon as Google enables the corresponding features, you will be affected by them.
You can check this here. If you have already used Gemini in this way, it is possible that your data is being used for advertising purposes. However, you can simply open the "Data & privacy" menu in your Google account and access the personalization settings under "Personalization and activity." Under "Personal Intelligence," you can see if and which apps are already linked and can disconnect them. If Google has already stored certain information, this action will not help – it only applies to the future.
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