None declared
None declared
Mostly a question of trust: Gmail collects data linked to you but declares no tracking. The sensitive items are location, contacts and user content. In total the label lists 10 data types; 28% of secure email apps we checked declare tracking.
Gmail privacy in one look
- 1Collects nothing
- 2Not linked
- 3Linked
- 4Tracks you
Built only from the developer's App Store label. It describes disclosure, not tested behaviour.
Gmail collects 10 data types tied to your identity but declares no tracking.
Did Gmail ask for something?
Pick the permission prompt you saw. We compare it with what Gmail's developer declared.
Gmail lists Location on its label, linked to you. Choose While Using and turn off Precise Location if the feature works without it.
Gmail lists User Content on its label, linked to you. Choose Limited Access and pick only the photos you want to share.
Gmail lists Contacts on its label, linked to you. Limited Access shares selected contacts instead of your whole address book.
Gmail declares no tracking, so a tracking prompt would contradict its label. Decline it, and consider reporting the mismatch to Apple.
Health & Fitness is not on Gmail's label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
A permission is what the app can reach on your iPhone; the label is what the developer says leaves it. They answer different questions.
What Gmail collects, explained
| Data type | What it covers | Where to limit it |
|---|---|---|
| LocationSensitiveLinked to you | Where your phone is, either precisely (street level) or approximately (city or area). | Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services: choose Never or While Using, and turn off Precise Location if the app does not need it. |
| ContactsSensitiveLinked to you | The people in your address book or social graph. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Contacts: choose Limited Access to share only selected people, or None. |
| User ContentSensitiveLinked to you | Messages, photos, videos, audio recordings, documents and support chats you create or upload. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos: choose Limited Access or None; review Microphone and Files access too. |
| Search HistoryLinked to you | Searches you run inside the app. | Look for a clear-history or private-search option in the app. |
| Contact InfoLinked to you | Your name, email address, phone number or postal address. | Use Sign in with Apple with Hide My Email where offered, and check the app's account and marketing preferences. |
| PurchasesLinked to you | What you have bought or tend to buy. | Review in-app marketing settings; subscriptions are listed in Settings › [your name] › Subscriptions. |
| IdentifiersLinked to you | An account ID, screen name, customer number or a device-level ID such as the advertising identifier. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking: turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track, or tap Ask App Not to Track when prompted. |
| Usage DataLinked to you | What you tap, open and view inside the app, plus which ads you have seen. | There is no single iOS switch. Look for an analytics or personalised-ads toggle in the app's own settings. |
| Other DataLinked to you | Any data the developer did not fit into Apple's named categories. | Read the app's privacy policy, linked from its App Store page. |
| DiagnosticsLinked to you | Crash logs, launch times, hang rates and energy use. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements › Share With App Developers controls what Apple passes on; the app's own crash reporting is separate. |
What Gmail's label means for you
Gmail's label has 10 types under “Data Linked to You”. A data type can appear in more than one section when it is used for different purposes — for example, identifiers used for both analytics and advertising.
Gmail declares no tracking, which means the developer says it does not combine your data with other companies' data for advertising or sell it to data brokers. The data linked to you — location, contacts, user content, search history, contact info, purchases, identifiers, usage data, other data and diagnostics — is still tied to your identity, typically through an account, and is covered by the developer's privacy policy and retention rules.
The items that deserve the most attention are location, contacts and user content. Location history reveals home, work and routines. Precise location deserves the most scrutiny.
Email apps see every message and contact. Third-party mail clients may route mail through their own servers to offer features like push or AI summaries. Check whether the client connects to your provider directly or stores your mail on its servers.
Among the 141 secure email apps in our snapshot with a label, 28% declare tracking, 60% collect data linked to you and 23% say they collect nothing. Gmail lists 10 data types, more than the average of 2.9 for this group.
Productivity apps tend to collect the work you do in them — documents, notes and files — so User Content is common. The question is whether it syncs to the developer's servers and how it is protected there.
Settings to check for Gmail
- 1
Tracking
Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. If “Allow Apps to Request to Track” is off, apps cannot ask, and they are told to treat you as having declined. You can also turn it off for this app alone.
- 2
Location
Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services › Gmail. Choose While Using or Never, and switch off Precise Location if a city-level answer is enough.
- 3
Photos
Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos. Limited Access lets you pick exactly which pictures the app can see; Add Photos Only lets it save without reading your library.
- 4
Contacts
Settings › Privacy & Security › Contacts. Limited Access shares only the people you select instead of your whole address book.
- 5
Sign-in
When creating an account, Sign in with Apple can give the app a relay address from Hide My Email instead of your real one.
- 6
Lock the app
On iOS 18 and later, touch and hold the icon and choose Require Face ID. Anyone who picks up your unlocked phone then needs your face, fingerprint or passcode to open it.
Does Gmail track you?
There is no “Data Used to Track You” section on Gmail's label.
Lock Gmail behind Face ID
- Find Gmail on your Home Screen or in App Library.
- Touch and hold the icon until the quick-actions menu opens.
- Tap Require Face ID (or Require Touch ID / Require Passcode, depending on your iPhone).
- Tap Require Face ID again to confirm. Gmail now asks for authentication every time it opens.
The lock is an iPhone feature, so it works whether or not Gmail has a passcode of its own. It does not change what the app sends to its developer.
About Gmail
| Developer | Google LLC |
| App Store category | Productivity (also Social Networking) |
| Latest version | 6.0.261019, released October 2026 |
| First released | November 2011 |
| Requires | iOS 18.0 or later |
| Size | 721 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ |
| Languages | 57 (AF, AR, EU, BN, BG, CA, HR, CS…) |
| Bundle ID | com.google.Gmail |
The current version shipped in October 2026, so the app is actively maintained and its label is likely current. Labels are updated by developers when practices change.
Also by Google LLC: Google Photos, Google Authenticator, Google Drive, Google One, Google, Google Docs.
What the label cannot tell you
- A label is self-reported. Apple publishes the developer's answers and can reject apps that misrepresent them, but it does not independently verify what Gmail sends.
- It does not say where data is stored, how long it is kept, whether it is encrypted, or which companies receive it. The privacy policy covers those points.
- Optional data counts: if a feature lets you add something (a profile photo, a phone number), the type is listed even if you never use the feature.
- Data handled only on your iPhone is not 'collected', so a no-collection label is compatible with an app that reads your files locally.
- Third-party sign-in, payment processors and SDKs are supposed to be included, but a label can lag behind a new version.
The question to ask Gmail's developer: Does my email pass through the app maker's servers?
Gmail vs similar secure email apps
- Gmail (this app)
- Zoho Mail
- Spark Mail
- Bmail
- Criptext Secure Email
- Mail
- black.com
Fewer types is not automatically safer: a cloud backup app has to collect your files to work. Compare like with like.
Look up any of our apps in seconds, or put two labels side by side.
Apps similar to Gmail
All secure email apps → Who tracks you? A–Z → Apps that collect location → Privacy label decoder →
Your Gmail privacy checklist
Done. You have applied every control the label points to.
True or false?
- Right.Not quite.
False: there is no Data Used to Track You section on Gmail's label.
- Right.Not quite.
Labels are self-reported by developers. Apple can reject or remove apps that misrepresent practices, but it does not audit each label.
- Right.Not quite.
True: Location appears on its label.
- Right.Not quite.
It is collected and sent; the developer says it is de-identified rather than tied to your account or device.
- Right.Not quite.
Apple's rules require apps to work the same whether or not you allow tracking.