Live data from Hacker News

Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

theguardian.com

1–10 of 24 posts

Re: Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

#3
How is this a surprise?

The particular argument in this case is as old as GMail is: Google uses email content as a factor in presenting ads in the service. That's been the case since day 1. The case isn't suggesting Google gives individuals access to your email content, or publishes or shares them with other organizations. The case is directly about how GMail has always worked.

Re: Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

#4
...but if the message contains a virus, then I should be protected from the sender's message exposing me to a virus, and I'll accuse the e-mail provider of negligence if they don't scan attachments in my messages for known viruses.

I'm not sure if I should be "stunned" by the admission that users shouldn't expect this kind of privacy, since e-mail is really nothing like postal mail as the article asserts, in the sense of packages being processed, delivered as-is and left unopened in the condition they were sent.

Re: Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

#5
post #4

...but if the message contains a virus, then I should be protected from the sender's message exposing me to a virus, and I'll accuse the e-mail provider of negligence if they don't scan attachments in my messages for known viruses. I'm not sure if I should be "stunned" by the admission that users shouldn't expect this kind of privacy, since e-mail is really nothing like postal mail as the article asserts, in the sens…

...Is that a reasonable counterargument to the most recent ravings about Google and privacy? I didn't think they actually existed.

Re: Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

#6
post #3

How is this a surprise? The particular argument in this case is as old as GMail is: Google uses email content as a factor in presenting ads in the service. That's been the case since day 1. The case isn't suggesting Google gives individuals access to your email content, or publishes or shares them with other organizations. The case is directly about how GMail has always worked.

It's not a surprise, it just rides the trendy tide of accusing big corporations of egregious privacy violations.

Obviously Google has been doing this for years. But it's a slow news day and we need a sexy headline, so let's go with a recent favorite: " is violating your privacy! What are you gonna do about it?! Get angry!"

Re: Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

#7
I don't care what Google says in their filings, we absolutely SHOULD expect privacy and confidentiality. Whether Google cares to honor and fulfill that expectation is up to them.

Now what they're really saying is "Google has no intention of helping keep your email private and confidential" which is a very different thing from insisting users have no expectations of privacy. They cannot speak for me.

Re: Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

#8
post #3

How is this a surprise? The particular argument in this case is as old as GMail is: Google uses email content as a factor in presenting ads in the service. That's been the case since day 1. The case isn't suggesting Google gives individuals access to your email content, or publishes or shares them with other organizations. The case is directly about how GMail has always worked.

It's not a surprise, it just rides the trendy tide of accusing big corporations of egregious privacy violations. Obviously Google has been doing this for years. But it's a slow news day and we need a sexy headline, so let's go with a recent favorite: " is violating your privacy! What are you gonna do about it?! Get angry!"

That may be true, however, we may understand that google has been doing this since day one but many people have no idea about this kind of stuff. Not everyone understands the Internet and how everything works... to some people I'd imagine this could be quite shocking.

But I do agree that this is definitely part of a trend and this could have been reported on at any time over the last couple years.

Re: Google: Gmail users shouldn't expect email privacy

#10
No, Google did not say that there is no privacy in Gmail: http://thenextweb.com/google/2013/08/14/no-google-did-not-sa...

> Earlier on Tuesday, Google was quoted by Consumer Watchdog, RT.com (Russia Today) and Gizmodo as having argued in a legal motion that customers have “no legitimate expectation of privacy”, but the quote has been taken out of context.

Post reply on HN