Google Taking Heat Over Gmail Privacy Policy Statement

Since not many of us own private email servers sitting in our basements, we tend to turn to alternatives from providers such as Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, and etc., and while we don’t really think too much about it, technically these companies could always intercept and read our emails if they choose to but unfortunately that’s what made the Consumer Watchdog a little unhappy, especially with a statement Google made back on the 13^th of July 2013 with regards to privacy concerns. According to Google, “a person has no legitimate expectation of privacy in information he voluntarily turns over to third parties.”

This was what riled up the Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project director, John M. Simpson, who in a statement said, “…when I send an email, I expect it to be delivered to the intended recipient with a Gmail account based on the email address; why would I expect its content will be intercepted by Google and read?” However according to Google who defends their privacy policy, “In practice, plaintiffs’ theory would prevent ECS providers from providing a host of normal services that Congress could not possibly have intended to criminalize as an illegal interception.”

Technically Google does make a point, although the way they worded it does make one a little concerned, but what do you guys think? Was this something you’ve always known and accepted, albeit begrudgingly, or did this come as a complete surprise?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Web
Tags: GMail, Google