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Now Google says it might use your Gmail and Google Photos data to target ads

Now Google says it might use your Gmail and Google Photos data to target ads

JustSkyfall

Comments (153)

  • actapp80
    > About DMA & your linked services> The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a European Union (EU) law that took effect on March 6, 2024. As a result of Article 5(2) of the DMA, in the EU, Google offers you the choice to link certain Google services.> Those Google services include: Search YouTube Ad services Google Play Chrome Google Shopping Google Maps > You can choose to link all these services, choose to have none of these services linked, or choose which of these individual services you want to link.https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/14202510?hl=enSo at least European users will be able to get personalized search and photos results without also having to share that data for personalized ads.
  • jmathai
    PSA: Getting out of Google Photos is both easy and super rewarding if you can run Immich and use Google Takeout. It’s also better than Google Photos.https://jaisenmathai.com/articles/my-ridiculously-robust-pho...
  • JumpCrisscross
  • zmmmmm
    Since the comments are going to be flooded with people reactively assuming it is straight up directly accessing them, here is the actual qualification:> [they will not use for ads] ... unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized adsSo it is more reasonable than I think most people are assuming.
  • accrual
    "might" === "absolutely will", just for the record.
  • rmunn
    They were already using Google Drive and/or Docs data for ad targeting.How do I know?In 2023 I decided to lose some weight. I created a Google Docs spreadsheet titled "Weight 2023" and every day, added one line to it. I did not do a bunch of Google searching for weight-loss products or exercise machines, I didn't suddenly start buying supplements on Amazon; the only change I made to my online habits was to open a spreadsheet and access it every day, to track my daily weight and see whether my new exercise-more-and-eat-less routine was working.Suddenly I started getting Play Store "recommendations" on my phone for fitness-tracking apps, weight-loss calculator apps, and so on. I had never gotten such recommendations before.That's when I realized that yes, Google could tell what I was doing from the title of my spreadsheet and the fact that I added one line to it every day.
  • yalogin
    If anything I am surprised they haven’t done this till now. When they gave no option to opt out of having our Gemini chats to not be used for training it was clear Google took a turn to be bold and aggressive about using user data. It was the sign to move away
  • hilbert42
    All I can add is that I'm very glad that I've no Google accounts nor use its services even though I've an Android phone.
  • benoau
    > Google won’t show you ads based on sensitive categories like race, sexual orientation, religion, or health.Conspicuously absent from the "sensitive categories" is political leanings...
  • epsteingpt
    Went in the training data, now they can't undo it.
  • privacyishuman
    Ente Photos is the best alternative imo. It's super polished, lets you self-host, and is E2EE.
  • bluesnowmonkey
    Jokes on them, I don't see ads anymore. I even have ads stripped out of podcasts I listen to.
  • xtracto
  • jms703
    They weren't already?!
  • jsw97
    Given that “don’t be evil” featured prominently in their S-1, does this constitute securities fraud?
  • bionhoward
    Google privacy policy is an absolute joke so this is hardly surprising. Pretty much everything gets used for model training. It’s hard to find options that respect your privacy without studying 50 support docs pages. Plus they conflate anonymization with privacy, as if ripping off someone’s data becomes OK as long as you … take their name off em
  • TutleCpt
    I just assume that everything you put into Google is used for ads.
  • ecommerceguy
    I've noticed now that google is cf negative, search might as well be called google billboard. they are admaxxing everything for as much rev as possible. its terrible, and i often use perplexity and chat in lieu of google search. as a matter of fact i find perplexity often produces much better results.
  • mandeepj
    Gmail has already been targeted from day 1!
  • calmbonsai
    Just de-Google yourself and your family. It’s long past time.
  • amelius
    Advertising is the root of all evil.Driver of overconsumption.Keeping us hooked on social media feeds.Targeting children, making them use addictive products.Making everything more expensive (because we are paying for the ads eventually).Collecting our data.Sometimes allowing malware to be installed on our systems.Frustrating the idea that the best product should win; instread the one with the biggest advertising budget wins....
  • hardlianotion
    Good job I never use it then.
  • palata
    I am extremely surprised, because I thought Google was already doing that.
  • torben-friis
    Here's an idea: Targeted ads against workers of companies who buy digital ads. Drown them in content with influencers showing that digital ads have awful returns, and frankly, only people with small genitals decide to buy campaigns.
  • anon
    undefined
  • adamtaylor_13
    You've gotta be able to actually show me ads before you can target me with ads.
  • BLKNSLVR
    Another reason to throw on the pile of needing to setup a new domain to self-host email on, properly planned with 'alias per login' etc.I'm not sure if the pile is big enough yet to make me do it, but it's getting there.I might have to have two domains, one for critical communications and logins (banking, finances, tax, etc) and another for all those bullshit web sign ups. Ironically, it's the critical one I'd have to setup 9n a centralised SaaS (and therefore prone to such shenanigans as Google is proposing) in order to make sure communications don't get lost. Having said that, my current Google-hosted domain is free, and so it's likely been used for advertising and AI training already.
  • krunck
    I dumped Google years ago because I saw this, among other enshitification, was inevitable. Never looked back. Life is good.
  • akomtu
    The implication here is that all your emails in GMail will be thoroughly analysed by LLMs.
  • sippingabonedry
    Friendly reminder when you click a link in a Gmail message, Google's servers also make a separate HTTP request for that link.For your safety I'm sure.
  • ChrisArchitect
  • jsemrau
    The enshitification of Google is inevitable. It went from all the space you ever need for your email to "you are at 93% usage. Upgrade to premium" in just a few years.
  • imnotr0b0t
    All of this so predictable and so disappointing. But there’s nothing to do but accept it.
  • chiefwilsion
    targeted ads are fine if they are actually relevant
  • varispeed
    Well, if we didn't have corrupt regulators, Google would have been fined out of existence ages ago.That said it will be interesting way of exploitation. If you want to find people who have certain email content, you can serve them ads manipulating them into taking an action. Like buying a scam product / malware.
  • improgrammer007
    So? what's the harm? At least I'll see targeted ads; ads that I would actually care about and not random ads. Yeah, these big tech companies track us. It's old now. When the product is free, you are the product. Same old, same old. Tell me something new.
  • ErroneousBosh
    Awesome.Most of my photos (hundreds and hundreds of them) from the past week are of shitty untidy black spaghetti network racks that are completely beyond all saving and frankly require the building to be flattened and everything rebuilt from scratch.So if this can help a company find a way to advertise a clean and humane way of solving this problem that doesn't involve me tracking down and deep frying the network engineer that left this unholy mess, then quite frankly I'm all for it any my cash is waiting.
  • shevy-java
    Anyone surprised?Evil has a name. It begins with 'G' and ends with 'oogle'.Hopefully you folks don't share information that is or was critical to your business or family there. Big Brother may be watching. The name is also Google.There is so much information you shared there, if you used it, that can be used for AI sniffing. This is the new future.
  • lstodd
    As if it did not for all those years.srsly ppl
  • cowlevel
    Google's always done this, it's the entire reason Gmail exists. Now they're just saying it.
  • gregglain
    "might"
  • pessimizer
    Now Google says that it has no values, no respect, and no fear.