What can an AI agent do with
Edit Google Contacts?
The agent can see, add, change and permanently delete your Google Contacts.
How to spot it
On a Google Workspace connection or settings screen, this is https://www.googleapis.com/auth/contacts.
With it, an agent can
- See and download all your contacts
- Add new contacts
- Change contact details
- Delete contacts, one at a time or in bulk
It cannot, on its own
- See the Other contacts list that Google builds from your past emails. That needs a separate permission.
What a bad day looks like
A confused agent could delete or overwrite customer contacts in bulk, and Google describes this delete as permanent.
Set it up safer
- If it only needs to look people up, ask for https://www.googleapis.com/auth/contacts.readonly.
- Ask for an approval step before it deletes or merges contacts.
Narrower permissions on Google Workspace:
- View Google Contacts
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/contacts.readonly
Ask the company selling the agent
- Why does it need to change or delete contacts?
- Will it remove duplicates on its own?
- Do you store my contact list?
Source
Checked against Google Workspace documentation on 2026-09-28. All Google Workspace permissions →
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This page explains what a permission allows. It does not describe, test or rate any product. Permission details are summarized in our own words from the provider's documentation, linked on the page; providers change their documentation, so check the source before you rely on a detail.