04:07
Faizan
No human being is sitting at Google headquarters and sifting through the content of the messages you and its other millions of users write each day. However, a computer network does analyze Gmail messages' content to deliver targeted advertising and fight spam. Although many people are not fans of Google's data-retention policies, Google does display its privacy policies plainly on its website, giving you the option to choose whether to use Gmail and other Google services.
Advertising
Google does scan through your emails to provide contextual ads based on keywords it finds in your messages. For example, you might see ads for products similar to something you just ordered online and got a receipt for, or for services in your hometown if it's mentioned in your emails.
Spam And Malware
Google also uses its email-scanning technology to determine whether an email is a spam message or may contain malware. For example, when one user reports a message as spam, Gmail scans the content of that message, and blocks identical or similar messages coming into other users' inboxes.
Privacy Concerns
When Gmail was first released in beta in 2004, a coalition of 31 privacy and civil rights organizations signed a letter urging Google to reconsider its email-scanning policies and suspend Gmail's service until privacy concerns were addressed -- a request that was not honored. The organizations were concerned that the data obtained by scanning emails could be used by law enforcement or advertisers in nefarious ways.
Google Policies
Google maintains that data about you and your emails are not shared directly with advertisers and that requests for data from law enforcement are handled on a case-by-case basis. According to Google's privacy policy, employee access to data is highly restricted, and employees who access personal information outside of their job needs can be terminated and/or prosecuted. Gmail also uses HTTPS encryption, which means messages you send out are protected from third-party snooping while traveling from your computer to Google's servers.
Advertising
Google does scan through your emails to provide contextual ads based on keywords it finds in your messages. For example, you might see ads for products similar to something you just ordered online and got a receipt for, or for services in your hometown if it's mentioned in your emails.
Spam And Malware
Google also uses its email-scanning technology to determine whether an email is a spam message or may contain malware. For example, when one user reports a message as spam, Gmail scans the content of that message, and blocks identical or similar messages coming into other users' inboxes.
Privacy Concerns
When Gmail was first released in beta in 2004, a coalition of 31 privacy and civil rights organizations signed a letter urging Google to reconsider its email-scanning policies and suspend Gmail's service until privacy concerns were addressed -- a request that was not honored. The organizations were concerned that the data obtained by scanning emails could be used by law enforcement or advertisers in nefarious ways.
Google Policies
Google maintains that data about you and your emails are not shared directly with advertisers and that requests for data from law enforcement are handled on a case-by-case basis. According to Google's privacy policy, employee access to data is highly restricted, and employees who access personal information outside of their job needs can be terminated and/or prosecuted. Gmail also uses HTTPS encryption, which means messages you send out are protected from third-party snooping while traveling from your computer to Google's servers.
Posted in: gmail
