Google API Services User Data — Limited Use

Limited Use disclosure

Mechanical Advantage’s use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

What this means in practice

Mechanical Advantage requests access to a user’s Google account (Gmail, Calendar, People, Drive) only after the user explicitly signs in, approves the OAuth consent screen, and connects that account through the Mechanical Advantage web application.

Data received from Google APIs is used exclusively to provide the user-facing features the user expects when they connect a Google account:

Reading and searching their email
Drafting and sending email (after biometric human approval)
Archiving email (never deleting)
Reading, creating, updating, and cancelling calendar events (never deleting)
Reading, creating, and updating contacts (never deleting)
Reading Google Drive files and converting them to markdown for the user’s personal agent search index

Limited Use commitments

Mechanical Advantage complies with each of the four Limited Use requirements:

1. User-facing features only

Google user data is used only to provide the features listed above. These features are visible and prominent in the user interface — every command the agent runs is surfaced in the CLI, every outbound action is surfaced in the web application’s review queue, and every piece of captured data is visible in the user’s activity log.

2. No unauthorized transfer

Google user data is never transferred to third parties except:

To the user’s own connected providers as required to operate the service (e.g., sending an email through Gmail’s API on the user’s behalf).
To comply with applicable law, regulation, or valid legal process.
As part of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets — with user notice and subject to the Privacy Policy.

3. No advertising

Google user data is never used for advertising, including personalized, retargeted, or interest-based advertising. Mechanical Advantage does not display ads, does not run an ad network, and does not share data with advertising platforms.

4. No human reading

Mechanical Advantage employees and contractors do not read a user’s Google user data, except:

With the user’s affirmative consent for specific messages.
When strictly necessary for security investigations (e.g., investigating abuse or a security incident).
When required by applicable law.
In aggregated and anonymized form for internal operations.

Scope-by-scope explanation

Mechanical Advantage requests the following scopes during the Google OAuth consent flow. Each is requested only when the user connects a Google account, and each is used only for the purpose described below.

Scope	Why it is requested
`openid`, `email`, `profile`	Identify the connected account and display the user’s Google email address in the Mechanical Advantage web app.
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly`	Read email messages to build a local, token-efficient index for the user’s agent to search and reference.
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.send`	Send email on behalf of the user. Every send is queued for biometric approval before it is executed.
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify`	Archive email at the user’s direction. Used only for label and archive operations — never to delete messages.
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar`	Read the user’s calendar, create new events, update existing events, and cancel events. Events are never deleted.
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/contacts`	Read the user’s contacts, create new contacts, and update existing contacts. Contacts are never deleted.
`https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly`	Read Google Drive files and convert them to markdown for the user’s personal agent search index. Mechanical Advantage does not write to, modify, or delete Drive files.

Data handling

Storage. Google user data is stored encrypted at rest in Mechanical Advantage’s database and object storage, isolated per user via derived encryption keys.
Retention. Google user data is retained for as long as the Google account is connected. When the user disconnects a Google account or closes their Mechanical Advantage account, the local index, documents, and memory derived from that account are deleted within 30 days.
Training. Google user data is never used to train AI models — neither Mechanical Advantage’s own models nor any third-party models.
Source of truth. Google is always the authoritative source of truth. Mechanical Advantage maintains a local index for fast, token-efficient agent access; it does not replace or move the user’s data.

Non-destructive guarantees

The Mechanical Advantage API does not expose delete endpoints for Google user data. Agents connected to the service can:

Read and search Gmail
Archive Gmail messages (never delete)
Create, update, and cancel calendar events (never delete)
Create and update contacts (never delete)
Read Drive files (never write, modify, or delete)

These guarantees are structural — the code paths required to delete Google user data do not exist in the Mechanical Advantage API.

Learn more

Questions: privacy@mechanicaladvantage.ai