What can an AI agent do with
View and download all Drive files?
The agent can open and download every file in your Google Drive. It cannot change, share or delete anything.
How to spot it
On a Google Workspace connection or settings screen, this is https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly.
With it, an agent can
- See the names and details of all your files
- Open and download any file
- Search across your whole Drive
It cannot, on its own
- Upload, edit or delete files
- Share files or change who can see them
What a bad day looks like
Everything in your Drive, including contracts, tax records and customer lists, is exposed if the agent or the company behind it leaks data.
Set it up safer
- Ask whether it can use https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file so it only reaches files you choose. Note that it can also edit those files.
- Move sensitive files to a separate account the agent is not connected to.
Narrower permissions on Google Workspace:
- Only files you pick or it creates
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file
Ask the company selling the agent
- Do you copy my files to your servers?
- Can I limit it to files I pick?
- How do I delete my data when I stop using you?
Source
Checked against Google Workspace documentation on 2026-09-28. All Google Workspace permissions →
Thinking about a specific agent?
Tell us what it connects to, what it is allowed to do and who approves its work. You get a plain-language label of what it can touch and what to ask the seller. It takes a couple of minutes, and your answers stay in your browser unless you choose to post a test job.
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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.