NewsStocksChrome Can Now Use Gmail Details to Fill Out Web Forms

Chrome Can Now Use Gmail Details to Fill Out Web Forms

Author: Decrypt·

Key Takeaways

  • •Google began rolling out enhanced autofill for Chrome on Oct. 28, enabling Gemini to pull order numbers, tracking information, and flight bookings from a user's Gmail to fill online forms.
  • •The feature is currently limited to the United States and requires Gemini in Chrome with Personal Intelligence enabled, with support for desktop, Android, and iOS devices.
  • •Credit card numbers and addresses remain part of Chrome's standard autofill system, and Google's announcement does not indicate the new feature extracts them from Gmail.
  • •Google says users can manage the feature's access through Chrome settings and that sensitive data is encrypted, though the company did not explain how encryption applies to the Gmail content Gemini reads.
  • •The rollout follows prior privacy-related controversies, including November criticism of a Smart Features setting and an Oct. 16 policy revision permitting Gmail, Drive, and Photos content to be used for personalized ads in some cases.
Chrome Can Now Use Gmail Details to Fill Out Web Forms

Google began rolling out an enhanced autofill feature for Chrome on Oct. 28 that allows Gemini to search a user’s Gmail for order numbers, tracking information and flight bookings when filling out online forms. The setup means users may not need to search their inboxes for confirmation emails when a form asks for those details.

The feature is available in the United States to users of Gemini in Chrome who have Personal Intelligence enabled. The rollout covers desktop, Android and iOS devices. Google announced the feature in a blog post.

Called “enhanced autofill,” the update can suggest information from Gmail when a form requests it, wrote Amanda Lim, a Chrome product manager. Chrome’s standard autofill already enters details such as a user’s name and address using information saved in the browser.

Enhanced autofill runs through Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, using Personal Intelligence. The feature allows Gemini to draw on connected applications, including Gmail and Google Photos, to tailor responses to a user’s circumstances. Google began expanding Personal Intelligence to free users in the U.S. in March, including through its AI Mode experience in Search. More details about that expansion are available in Google’s announcement.

Google’s announcement identifies only order numbers, tracking information and flight bookings as data that enhanced autofill retrieves from Gmail. Credit card numbers and addresses remain part of Chrome’s standard autofill system, which uses information saved in the browser. The announcement does not say that the new feature extracts those details from a user’s inbox.

“You can manage whether enhanced autofill is enabled and what it can access via your Chrome settings,” Lim wrote. “As always, sensitive data is encrypted and you remain in control.”

Encryption scrambles data so that only Google and other authorized parties can read it. However, Google’s announcement does not explain how that protection applies to the Gmail content read by Chrome or specify what information the system scans.

Google said in March that, “Built with privacy in mind, Gemini and AI Mode don’t train directly on your Gmail inbox or Google Photos library.” Users decide whether to connect their applications and can disconnect them at any time, according to the company. Google does train on limited information, such as specific prompts and the model’s responses.

The rollout follows earlier concerns about Google’s handling of connected data. In November, users criticized a Smart Features setting that allowed Gemini to analyze emails and calendars unless users opted out. Google said at the time that it had not changed its underlying data-handling practices. Decrypt previously reported on the backlash over the Gmail setting.

Google also revised its privacy policy effective Oct. 16. The change added an exception to the company’s pledge not to use content from Gmail, Drive and Photos for advertising. Personalized ads may use that data if users choose to make it available to other Google services that support them. Google says the content is not used for ad targeting by default and that advertisers do not receive access to the contents of Gmail, Drive or Photos. Decrypt reported on the privacy policy update.

Chrome accounts for about 65% of the browser market, meaning changes to how the browser handles personal data reach a large share of web users. In January, Google gave paying U.S. subscribers an AI browsing agent called auto browse, which clicks through websites and fills out forms on a user’s behalf. Enhanced autofill is the latest in a string of AI features Google has added to its products this year.

Chrome also removed a line from its settings stating that on-device AI—models running on a user’s computer rather than on Google’s servers—works without sending data to Google’s servers. Google said the wording change did not reflect a change in how it handles on-device AI. Decrypt reported on the removal of the privacy claim.

The enhanced autofill rollout began Wednesday in the U.S. on desktop, Android and iOS. Google’s announcement does not provide a date for availability in other countries, leaving the feature’s reach beyond the U.S. an open question.