Google Cloud Functions (GCF) uses HTTP triggers or event-driven triggers to pass data. For HTTP, the request object contains data passed in headers, query parameters, or body. The response object is used to send data back to the caller. In event-driven functions, GCF passes data through a single parameter containing event details and context information. This can include data like file changes for Cloud Storage events or published messages for Pub/Sub events. To return data from an event-triggered function, you must either return a promise that resolves when all asynchronous tasks are complete or use the provided callback function.