"Free",
I assumed using Google's email service (Gmail) was free. After learning about
the facts of the recent Gmail privacy lawsuit, I now realize the payment for
using Gmail is not nickels and dimes, but the content of emails. Google is using an
electronic program to scan all emails that are processed by Gmail, and in turn could
do anything with this information.
The only reason Google admits to
using the information for, is to help target its advertising. The electronic
program can find commonalities between emails and then target advertising based
on the information it found. Not only are emails scanned from Gmail accounts,
but also emails sent to Gmail accounts from non-Gmail users. The topic of the emails
does not matter, whether they are about hobbies, work, family or school, every
word can be used to target you. Also Google is attempting to link information
about users from all its services, not just email, but Google search, and the
Chrome Internet Browser.
Does Google respect personal Privacy?
No, Google feels they have a right to read emails and take information. However
some disagree and are suing Google. Sean Rommel, part of a team of attorneys
suing Google stated, "This company reads, on a daily basis, every email that's
submitted, and when I say read, I mean looking at every word to determine
meaning." In response Whitty Somvichian, an attorney for Google, stated
"Users, while they're using their Google Gmail account, have given Google
the ability to use the emails they send and receive for providing that
service." A trial date could be set within the next 12 months, and the
verdict from this case could affect the outcome of other similar cases. Till
the verdict is decided, I would be careful about what you send and receive using
Gmail because Google will read every word, whether you do or not.
Mendoza,
Martha. "Google Seeks to Dismiss Gmail Privacy Lawsuit, Says It Has Right
to Scan Correspondence." Yahoo Finance Canada. The Associated Press, 5
Sept. 2013. Web. 24 Sept. 2013.
http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/google-seeks-dismiss-gmail-privacy-lawsuit-says-scan-083931002--finance.html
I was just trying to update my blogger account and add a picture from my PC, my smart phone is linked to Google and a few minutes ago I realized that all my photos were uploaded to my Google account. Private, not so private, fuzzy shots with my eyes closed and so on. I am in disbelief, I had no clue they were storing my photos which makes me wonder ‘what else are they storing’. Thanks for the info, I am truly disappointed since Google is my preferred search engine and come to find out they are all in my business :-(.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you decided to read this blog then so you could have a better idea of what is going on with google and your privacy. That is a perfect example of how google can threaten ones internet privacy. I hope you get all of that figured out and get your personal stuff deleted from your google account. Best of Luck!!!!
DeleteI am a huge fan of Google. I use Google Drive for all of my class notes so that I can access them from any computer, anywhere, at any time. For some reason the privacy issue does not bother me. I very rarely send an email with confidential information, I just pick up the phone. I don't click on advertisements on sites but I do enjoy that they are aimed for me with products/services that I find interesting.
ReplyDeleteI also am a big fan of google, but I must say when I first heard about google reading all emails it kind of freaked me out. Not necessarily for myself because I am the same as you I do not send emails with confidential information. When reading about them doing that though it also kind of makes you wonder what else do they do that we do not know about, and that is the part that worries me.
DeleteVery interesting to read about. Considering my Yahoo account just got hacked so I created a gmail account. I'm not saying that I email things that need to be flagged but it also is nice to know that people are protecting all of us from the crazies. Great article and I enjoyed learning about this!
ReplyDeleteGood point! There is a tradeoff, this technology can compromise our privacy, but also protect us.
DeleteIn reading all these posts related to privacy, it got me thinking about attachments. Do you happen to know if Google will read attachments? Is it less likely that they open and read them? Do they not read attachments at all? A lot of times documents that are attached to emails could contain sensitive data, e.g. resume information, contracts, etc. Perhaps we should go back to "snail mail!"
ReplyDeleteGood Question! I did find some information about what "external email information" Google searches through. Copy this web page, https://epic.org/privacy/gmail/faq.html#22, paste it in your search bar and scroll down to topic #2.2 titled "What is "internal" and "external" e-mail information used in the analysis?" Under this topic there is a chart which lists what specific types of e-mail information Google analyzes.
DeleteI feel that usually some kind of consequence follows what is offered for "free". Personally it doesn't bother me much that Google reads my email or such. I think sometimes it’s not really a bad thing if they really read word for word of emails. I don't think it is so much of violating my Personal Privacy if they are not actually getting back at me or if their activity can somehow have positive impacts.
ReplyDelete