How Google helps you share data safely with third-party apps & services

To unlock helpful experiences, you can choose to share data between your Google Account and accounts on third-party apps and services.

Important: Third parties are companies or developers that aren’t Google. Only share your data with third parties that you trust.

Keep in mind that:

• You’ll get to review the data that will be shared from your Google Account to the third party.
• Data won’t be shared unless you give permission.
• You can remove access at any time. You may need to request that the third party delete the data they already have.
• Google does not share your Google Account password with the third-party app or service.

Third-party access to your Google Account

To unlock helpful features, you can give third-party apps and services access to your Google Account.

For example, you may download an app to help edit photos on your phone. This app may request access to Google Photos so it can suggest and apply filters to improve the lighting.

How it works

Important: Third parties are companies or developers that aren’t Google. Only give third parties you trust access to your Google Account. Learn about the risks.

You can give third parties access to your data within different products in your Google Account, like your Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Photos, and more.

Before you decide whether to give access to your Google Account, you’ll have the chance to review the level of data access the third party will have and what actions it will be able to take.

Third parties can request different kinds of access to your Google Account, including some or all of the following access:

• Get your basic profile: To help you create a new third-party account that you can sign in to with your Google Account, the third party can request your name, email address, and profile picture. You grant third-party apps and services access to your basic profile when you choose to use Sign in with Google.
• View and copy info from your Google Account: Third-party apps and services can ask for permission to view and copy info like your Contacts, Photos, YouTube playlists, and more. If you revoke the third party’s access to your Google Account, they won’t be able to access any more info from your Google Account, but you may need to request that they delete the data they already have.
• Edit, upload, create, and delete content in your Google Account: Third-party apps or services may request additional permission to do things such as edit, upload, create, or delete content in your Google Account. For example, a film editing app may edit your video and upload it to your YouTube channel, or an event planning app may create events on your Google Calendar, with your permission.

How data is shared

Data shared by Google

Before you decide whether to give access to your Google Account, we’ll help you understand what data the third party has requested.

You’ll be able to review:

• The Google products or data the third party has requested access to.
• The level of data access the third party will have and what actions it will be able to take.

You can decide if you want to allow or block the third party from accessing data it requested in your Google Account. If a third party wants to access different types of data or services in your Google Account, you’ll receive a separate request to review.

Data shared by the third party

When you give a third party access to your Google Account, Google does not receive access to your account on the third-party app or service.

However, there may be times when you choose to give Google permission to access certain data in the third-party account. Learn more.

What to consider before you give access to your Google Account

When you give a third party access to your Google Account, they may be able to read, edit, delete, or share sensitive, private info.

Before you give a third party access to your Google Account, you should read the privacy policy and security disclosures for the third-party app or service to learn how they use your data and how they keep it safe.

Third parties may request access to sensitive info in your Google Account

Google products with especially sensitive info include:

• Gmail: Your emails may contain the names of your contacts, your private correspondence, or sensitive documents like attached copies of medical reports.
• Photos: Your Google Photos albums may have photos that you’d prefer not to share or have visible to others, like pictures of your family or copies of official documents. In addition, many photos are automatically tagged by location and date.
• Drive: Your Google Drive may contain sensitive files you’ve uploaded, like personal photos, medical records, financial records, official reports, and presentations. In addition, if you’ve shared documents with other people, their names and contact info are also in your Google Drive.
• Calendar: Your Google Calendar can have important info about your daily routine and private events, like the locations, guests, and descriptions of appointments or meetings.
• Contacts: Your Google Contacts can include the names, phone numbers, addresses, and contact details of people you know.

Important: Third parties may also request access to sensitive data in other products, for example: YouTube, Ads, and Google Fit.

Third parties have their own policies

Before you give a third party access to your Google Account, consider these factors.

• Security: If the third party’s server is breached, your data may be accessed by unauthorized people. When you allow a third party to access your Google Account, they can copy and save your data on their own servers. Because Google can’t protect the data on another company’s servers, your data may be subject to greater data security and privacy risks.
• Data use: The data may be used by the third party in ways that are not obvious, such as being shared with others.
• Data deletion: Depending on the third party, you may not be able to quickly or automatically delete your data from their servers. It may also be difficult to delete the account you created on the third-party app or service.
• Policy changes: The third party may not directly notify you if it changes its policies and practices.
• Data visibility: A third party may have individuals who look at the Google Account data that you’ve shared with that third party. Read the third party’s privacy policy to make sure you’re comfortable with who will have access to your data.

Third-party apps or services may not have been verified by Google

Third-party apps that request access to your sensitive information may not have been reviewed by Google for compliance with Google’s policies for keeping your data secure. For example, if a third party app is still in development or not broadly available, it might not have been reviewed by Google.

If a third-party app or service has not been reviewed by Google, you may get a warning when the third party requests access to your Google Account. If you receive a warning, don’t share your data unless you trust the third party.

You can use Security Checkup to help you view unverified apps with access to your Google Account.

Manage third-party access to your data

• Review what third-party apps have access to your Google Account and the data they can access.
• At any time, you can remove a third-party app’s access to your future Google Account data.
• Manage third-party sites and apps with access to your child’s Google Account.
• To check for any unverified apps with access to your Google Account, complete a Security Checkup.
• If you believe an app or service misuses your data, creates spam, impersonates you, or uses your data in harmful ways, report them.

Linked third-party accounts that Google can access

You can link an account from a third-party app or service to your Google Account. Once linked, you can interact with that third-party app or service on devices that are signed in to your Google Account.

For example, you may want to link a streaming music service to your Google Account. You can then ask the Google Assistant to play a song or finish a podcast on that music service.

How it works

Important: Third parties are companies or developers that aren’t Google.

You can use the Google Assistant and other Google products to access and control your third-party apps and services by linking them to your Google Account. You can link your third-party account to your Google Account from different places like:

• The Google Assistant App
• The Google Home App

How data is shared

Data shared by the third party

Before data is shared, you’ll have the chance to decide whether to give Google access to your third-party account. Based on the third party, you may be able to review:

• What parts of the account Google will be able to access, if any.
• What level of account access Google will have, if any.
• What actions Google will be able to take.

The third party may allow Google to view and sometimes edit relevant data in your linked third-party account. That way, you can use Google to access and control the third-party app or service.

Types of account access the third party may provide

You can decide to give Google different kinds of access to an account you created with a third-party app or service, including to:

• View the type of account you have. This allows Google to see what content or features you have access to, based on the type of subscription or account you have.
• View or edit your content. This allows Google to do things like find and stream content, edit your playlists, or start a video on one device and pick up where you left off on another device.
• View your purchase history. For shopping apps and services, this can help Google put the correct items in your shopping cart.

Examples of how Google might use access to third-party accounts

Google might use access to data in your third-party account to help you do things like:

• Ask your Google Assistant to play music you’ve purchased or add a song to a playlist for a linked music streaming app.
• Find a show from a linked video streaming app using Google Search, and start playing it from where you left off.
• Ask your Google Assistant to turn smart light bulbs on or off.

Data shared by Google

When you give Google access to an account you created with a third party, data is shared from that account to Google.

In some cases, the third party may receive data from Google. For example, the third party might ask you to:

• Use your existing Google Account to sign in to the app or service.
• Provide the third party with additional access to your Google Account.

Manage third-party accounts linked to your Google Account

• To delete the connection between a third-party account and your Google Account, go to your Connections to third-party apps & services page.
• Manage your third-party accounts linked with Google.