The policy authorizes Google to link activity data collected across its own services and from third-party sites and apps using Google products, associating that activity with a user's personal information to deliver personalized advertising and service improvements, subject to account settings.
This analysis describes what Google's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision establishes the operational basis for Google's cross-context behavioral advertising system. The terms authorize association of third-party browsing activity with personal account data, which is the core mechanism underlying targeted advertising across the Google ecosystem.
The updated policy establishes a new opt-in mechanism that allows Google services like Search and Gemini to access data from other Google services you use, including Gmail, Google Photos, and Drive, to personalize your experience and show you targeted ads. Previously, Google's policy stated it did not show personalized ads based on content from these services. Under the revised terms, if you choose to enable this feature, Google may use data from Gmail, Photos, and Drive to personalize ads and content, including through a feature called Personal Intelligence. You can manage this through your Google account settings to control which services can access data from other services.
View change record →Google's Privacy Policy now gives an effective date of October 1, 2026, replacing May 26, 2026. One passage changed. It covers information Google collects when you are not signed in, which it stores with identifiers tied to your browser, app or device. The policy previously said this lets Google show more relevant search results or ads “based on your activity”; it now says “based on your activity across devices.”
View change record →The updated policy explicitly discloses that Google collects data when you are signed out and stores it with unique identifiers tied to your browser, application, or device. The policy also expands the types of activity it collects to include 'media (like images, files, audio and video) from your interactions,' in addition to previously listed categories. The revised language reorganizes privacy controls into 'Search Services History' and 'Web & App Activity,' and clarifies that depending on your settings, activity from services like Search, Maps, and Shopping is saved as history to your Google Account. You can manage these settings through your Google Account privacy controls, including the ability to turn off Web & App Activity or adjust Personalized Recommendations in Search services.
View change record →⚠ Cross-service behavioral data will be associated with the user's Google Account and used for advertising personalization as described in the policy.
Cross-platform context
See how other platforms handle Cross-Service Data Linkage for Personalization and Advertising and similar clauses.
Compare across platforms →"We may use the information we collect across our services and across your devices for the purposes described above. For example, depending on your available settings, if you watch videos of guitar players on YouTube, you might see an ad for guitar lessons on a site that uses our ad products. Depending on your account settings, your activity on other sites and apps may be associated with your personal information in order to improve Google's services and the ads delivered by Google.Excerpt from Google's Privacy Policy
1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision implicates GDPR requirements for lawful basis and purpose limitation as applied to cross-context behavioral advertising.
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This provision establishes the operational basis for Google's cross-context behavioral advertising system. The terms authorize association of third-party browsing activity with personal account data, which is the core mechanism underlying targeted advertising across the Google ecosystem.
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