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Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect

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Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect

#31

Post by jollofricepeas »

defnotashton2 wrote: post #24
sneak wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My track record? If you're going to accuse me of lying, I'd prefer that you do so overtly and put your own credibility on the line. https://twitter.com/sneakdotberlin/status/131783835638279782... It says source=gmail-imap right in the URL. Look.

Sorry for us being skeptical of 140 character claims... I don't see how that url means Google is doing this, when none of us have been able to verify. There could be 100 different things touching your email doing this. Pretty sure most hn wants this to be true as a reason to sharpen pitchforks.

Exactly and the OP has a strong past of making false and misleading claims before.

Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect

#32

Post by tjoff »

phreack wrote: post #21

This is really urgent if it goes beyond A/B. Possibly even illegal already under some interpretations. It'd finally make me leave Gmail for sure.

Why would the outcome of the A/B matter? The writing is on the wall.

Maybe get out now rather than waiting for the frog to get cooked.

Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect

#33

Post by srtjstjsj »

asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #26
lern_too_spel wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably to hide Gmail as the referer on browsers that don't support it. It doesn't make sense in the IMAP case. https://caniuse.com/referrer-policy

They can also use this for phishing prevention. There are probably other ways to do it -- e.g. you could rewrite the url dynamically at read time if it's been detected as a phishing attack -- but using a redirector is likely simpler. Tbh I'm struggling a little to understand what the threat model is here. You trust gmail to receive and handle your email. In the vast majority of cases, you're accessing the email throu…

Many people assume, rightly or wrongly, that Google isn't processing their mail content for business purposes.

Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect

#34

Post by jagged-chisel »

"Now?" Has this not always been the case? I tend to use the web UI on my desktop which, IIRC, has always made links bounce through a Google. I use an app on my mobile device so I can't confirm whether links bounce through Google.

Is Google rewriting the links in the message such that if I forward to someone's non-Gmail address, they still bounce through Google?

Or is the client 'rewriting' links dynamically? This same thing happens all over the web. Drop a link in your Medium-hosted blog, and they'll front the link with their own and then redirect.

What's the new, surprising bit here?

Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect

#36

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

genocidicbunny wrote: post #28
asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can also use this for phishing prevention. There are probably other ways to do it -- e.g. you could rewrite the url dynamically at read time if it's been detected as a phishing attack -- but using a redirector is likely simpler. Tbh I'm struggling a little to understand what the threat model is here. You trust gmail to receive and handle your email. In the vast majority of cases, you're accessing the email throu…

If they're rewriting emails that you send out, that allows them to also track what the recipients of the emails do, even non-gmail ones. And not every gmail user uses the webmail interface either -- many use standalone clients that wouldn't normally have this tracking. Also, there is something very wrong when we're okay with Google rewriting parts of our emails. How long until they decide to start modifying other bit…

> If they're rewriting emails that you send out

That's not the claim. The claim is that they're rewriting urls you receive. I suppose if the imap claim is true, and you reply, and you quote the redirector url in your reply, and someone clicks that link, they could detect it. That seems a little annoying and presents a slight risk, but it doesn't seem like the type of thing that would be intentionally designed in, even if I model google as completely amoral and short-termist. There just doesn't seem to be much advantage in it.

> And not every gmail user uses the webmail interface either

That's why i said the vast majority of cases, not "all." :)

Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect

#38

Post by nvr219 »

stephc_int13 wrote: post #5

I've planned to quit using Gmail for a long time now. Any tips on how to do it efficiently? I would prefer a native email client coupled to a simple hosting solution.

1. Get Fastmail 2. Forward all your email from gmail to Fastmail. Use this time to update your contacts, etc. 3. After 30 days disable gmail forward. You will probably keep the email address for spam.

For Calendar - you can have fastmail pull your gmail calendar. Keep that in place to help transition recurring meetings to fastmail, and then eventually you can sunset that too.

Do invest in your own domain name so that if you need to leave fastmail in the future you can do that more easily.

Re: Gmail/G Suite now editing URLs in mail message bodies to use Google URL redirect

#39

Post by oefrha »

londons_explore wrote: post #23
djbebs wrote: post #4

How can this be legal?

It's to protect the privacy of the Gmail user - it means the website doesn't get to know that you came from gmail.com. Google doesn't get any extra info, since they already had all your email contents and you already had a privacy agreement with them. One could argue that they have to do this to meet the law.

> it means the website doesn't get to know that you came from gmail.com.

That's entirely solved by Referrer-Policy: no-referrer, so no.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Re...

(Unless you're talking about someone using another webmail client that doesn't set the header, which would be a stretch.)

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