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stareja · 11-08-2004, 10:42 AM

Actually, what they promise is "No human reads your email to target ads or related information to you without your consent."

Google's Gmail Privacy Policy is located at:
https://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/privacy.html

The great majority of it is pretty standard among web service providers.

However, in their help pages (login required to view), they have this:

"Is Google reading my email?

Answer
Google is NOT reading your mail. Privacy is an issue we take very seriously. Gmail is a technology-based program. Advertising and related information are shown using a completely automated process. Ads are selected for relevance and served by Google computers using the same contextual advertising technology that powers our AdSense program. This technology enables Google to effectively target dynamically changing content, such as email, or news stories.

Because the ads and Related Pages are matched to information that is of interest to you, we hope you'll find them relevant and useful.

If you'd like to know more about how Google handles your Gmail information, please read our Gmail Privacy Policy. "

The way the above is worded infers Google as an entity, which would include bots and software. So, Google is clearly not following it's printed word.

Another possibility is that someone could have "turned him in", so to speak, since Google maintains compliance to the DMCA, which could include the email flowing through it's servers:
http://www.google.com/dmca.html

It's also possible that they take a proactive approach to the DMCA and scan for such items.

Even with all of this, every user has to agree to Google's Gmail Terms of Service. I'm not sure if you have to be logged in to see this or not, but here's the link:
http://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/terms_of_use.html

In it, you agree to the following (excerpt, of course):

"Proper Use. You agree that you are responsible for your own communications and for any consequences thereof. Your use of the Service is subject to your acceptance of and compliance with the Agreement, including the Gmail Program Policies ("Program Policies"), located at http://www.google.com/gmail/help/program_policies.html, or such other URL as Google may provide from time to time. You agree that you will use the Service in compliance with all applicable local, state, national, and international laws, rules and regulations, including any laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from your country of residence. You shall not, shall not agree to, and shall not authorize or encourage any third party to: (i) use the Service to upload, transmit or otherwise distribute any content that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, abusive, fraudulent, obscene, contains viruses, or is otherwise objectionable as reasonably determined by Google; (ii) upload, transmit or otherwise distribute content that infringes upon another party's intellectual property rights or other proprietary, contractual or fiduciary rights or obligations; (iii) prevent others from using the Service; (iv) use the Service for any fraudulent or inappropriate purpose; or (v) act in any way that violates the Program Policies, as may be revised from time to time. Violation of any of the foregoing may result in immediate termination of this Agreement, and may subject you to state and federal penalties and other legal consequences. Google reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to investigate your use of the Service in order to determine whether a violation of the Agreement has occurred or to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request."

Again, this is pretty standard among Internet services. It may be that Google is just deciding to hold you to your word. In the case above, they would be within their rights to scan mail for violations

It's important to note that most web mail providers do the same things listed above. They key is that Google provides a much larger space to store email, so data mining into personal trends and patterns will yield more results for advertising. If you're not going to use Gmail, you should consider not using web mail at all as they all have the same potential fallacies that Gmail has. If anything, you should consider nit using the based on the fact that they've gone against their written word.

Remember folks, despite what everyone thinks, email is not private. Anywhere along the line of communication, your email can be intercepted and read by quite a few different people.

And, in case anyone wants to know, yes, I have a Gmail account that I actively use. At the very least, I hope it's been informative.

11-08-2004, 10:42 AM	#3
stareja Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2004 Device: Tungsten\|T/SonyEricsson T	Actually, what they promise is "No human reads your email to target ads or related information to you without your consent." Google's Gmail Privacy Policy is located at: https://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/privacy.html The great majority of it is pretty standard among web service providers. However, in their help pages (login required to view), they have this: "Is Google reading my email? Answer Google is NOT reading your mail. Privacy is an issue we take very seriously. Gmail is a technology-based program. Advertising and related information are shown using a completely automated process. Ads are selected for relevance and served by Google computers using the same contextual advertising technology that powers our AdSense program. This technology enables Google to effectively target dynamically changing content, such as email, or news stories. Because the ads and Related Pages are matched to information that is of interest to you, we hope you'll find them relevant and useful. If you'd like to know more about how Google handles your Gmail information, please read our Gmail Privacy Policy. " The way the above is worded infers Google as an entity, which would include bots and software. So, Google is clearly not following it's printed word. Another possibility is that someone could have "turned him in", so to speak, since Google maintains compliance to the DMCA, which could include the email flowing through it's servers: http://www.google.com/dmca.html It's also possible that they take a proactive approach to the DMCA and scan for such items. Even with all of this, every user has to agree to Google's Gmail Terms of Service. I'm not sure if you have to be logged in to see this or not, but here's the link: http://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/terms_of_use.html In it, you agree to the following (excerpt, of course): "Proper Use. You agree that you are responsible for your own communications and for any consequences thereof. Your use of the Service is subject to your acceptance of and compliance with the Agreement, including the Gmail Program Policies ("Program Policies"), located at http://www.google.com/gmail/help/program_policies.html, or such other URL as Google may provide from time to time. You agree that you will use the Service in compliance with all applicable local, state, national, and international laws, rules and regulations, including any laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from your country of residence. You shall not, shall not agree to, and shall not authorize or encourage any third party to: (i) use the Service to upload, transmit or otherwise distribute any content that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, abusive, fraudulent, obscene, contains viruses, or is otherwise objectionable as reasonably determined by Google; (ii) upload, transmit or otherwise distribute content that infringes upon another party's intellectual property rights or other proprietary, contractual or fiduciary rights or obligations; (iii) prevent others from using the Service; (iv) use the Service for any fraudulent or inappropriate purpose; or (v) act in any way that violates the Program Policies, as may be revised from time to time. Violation of any of the foregoing may result in immediate termination of this Agreement, and may subject you to state and federal penalties and other legal consequences. Google reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to investigate your use of the Service in order to determine whether a violation of the Agreement has occurred or to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request." Again, this is pretty standard among Internet services. It may be that Google is just deciding to hold you to your word. In the case above, they would be within their rights to scan mail for violations It's important to note that most web mail providers do the same things listed above. They key is that Google provides a much larger space to store email, so data mining into personal trends and patterns will yield more results for advertising. If you're not going to use Gmail, you should consider not using web mail at all as they all have the same potential fallacies that Gmail has. If anything, you should consider nit using the based on the fact that they've gone against their written word. Remember folks, despite what everyone thinks, email is not private. Anywhere along the line of communication, your email can be intercepted and read by quite a few different people. And, in case anyone wants to know, yes, I have a Gmail account that I actively use. At the very least, I hope it's been informative.