Google scanning email of users

[universal4]

This was released previously, but since they just updated their privacy policy to make it more clear, Google has had to once again publicly state they do in fact scan the content of the email of their users.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/google...002045067.html

Sure they claim it is about advertising, and I am sure to a degree it is, but utilizing what they have learned in search, I wonder how much of that data they have warehoused for mining.

And if I sold red widgets and had a lot of customers that had gmail addresses they would likely all get ads in their inboxes for blue widgets shortly after I sent a newsletter.

I certainly would rethink having the red widget corporate email at gmail, since they would also get to read all the trade secrets about red widgets and probably start a green widget company.

Rick
Universal4

[slotplayer]

the hell with google, I see a recession on the horizon.

[ocreditor]

As disturbing as it might sound, I think that not only Google is scanning emails...

[LottoRevenues.com]

i'm sure the pressure that the founders of google get also from the NSA are huge,
not so easy to be in their position as we think.

[Christiaan]

Of course they scan our emails and send us ads that are related with everything we search and talk about. Why else would they have a free email service? You don't pay for it but you get a great email service.
I use Google for my private and business email but I'm not really concerned about my privacy here. Okay they scan my email, they know my interests. But they would know the same if they just tracked my search queries and all the sites I visit (Analytics will give them that information, many people use it). I don't think they will human read my email and get confidential information out of it.

[universal4]

Good points Chrisitan, but the big "whatif" is IF they do in fact warehouse the data.

Who else gets to see it, and "whatif" it is also compromised?

Does anyone wonder how they knew EXACTLY what markets they needed to move into?

They studied the data from the two biggest uses of the internet, search and email.

Granted some will now say it's social media, but that is relatively new compared to the the oldest uses of the net. Plus they are moving toward social media also.

Rick
Universal4

[TheGooner]

Yes - google scan your email - and yes Google also warehouse your data.

All key advertising words are kept and used to tune ads.
If you get/send an email about cars - and have the right mix of buying signals then you will get car adverts for a couple of weeks.

All this should not be a surprise to anyone - you have a "free" email service because you sell your eyes / mind as a target.

However, what is more nefarious is the fact that many key phrases (financial and otherwise) are also scanned for and kept in the warehouse, and while they can be used for advertising purposes they could also be used negatively against the user - if other parties had access to this warehouse.

----------

Finally, all email is open (unless specifically sent encrypted), and using email has been likened to using a postcard through the physical post. Every employee that handles the postcard can read the contents - so it is with email - and every server / router used in transmitting the email obtains and keeps a copy of the email in cache until it is overwritten which may be hours, days, or months later.

Additionally, many people say that several Western Governments have extreme "listening computers" that are able to intercept and scan most emails and phone calls searching for "key words" - this system is known as ECHELON. We have a station here in little New Zealand.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON

ECHELON clearly does exist in some form, and it's ability is up for debate, but I can provide an anecdote from back in 2000 when I tested a theory with an email from myself to myself on a different email address. I dragged up at least a dozen terrorist target keywords including president and nuclear weapon and strike ... and included a link to a very low volume website for my football team armsfc.com

(We were sponsored by the Courtenay Arms pub - so it's an innocuous name - but was useful for this experiment)

Within one hour - every page on that website had been "read" by both GOV.NZ and a MIL ip address - I have no idea what they made of a series of match reports for a pub football team - including the extra page I'd added titled "WANT A JOB" - where I said now that I had their attention - the email was an obvious honey trap - and if someone was reading this was there any job openings down here in the intelligence community?


I never heard anything - never had any sign of anything untoward - other than the logs showing some sort of response collecting all the pages of the site immediately. (a robot perhaps?) - but it certainly suggested a level of internet monitoring that is not common knowledge.

Have a great easter holiday guys and gals

[universal4]

So did any of the teams you wrote up "really bomb out"?....LOL

Thanks Gooner, needed a laugh before taking a break.....

Rick
Universal4

[Christiaan]

Your story reminded me of this news article: http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ressure-cooker

A woman searched the internet for pressure cookers, her husband was looking for backpacks and the son was interested in the Boston marathon bombings. A terrorism task force searched their house and interrogated them.

I'm sure the governments read our emails and check what we visit and search for. The robots probably also flagged this forum topic now

[lowrisk]

Now, where did I leave my tin foil hat?

[Renee]

Does that mean they are going to send a few porn stars over to my house based on my search history?

[universal4]

That is actually possible Renee, but of course my question would be, who would enjoy it more you or your other half....

....my next question is, if I ever get to another conference, will anyone stand between Renee and myself?

By the way Renee, you ever open your email with children in the room do you?

Rick
Universal4

[Renee]

That is actually possible Renee, but of course my question would be, who would enjoy it more you or your other half....

Is that a trick question?

....my next question is, if I ever get to another conference, will anyone stand between Renee and myself?

By the way Renee, you ever open your email with children in the room do you?

Rick
Universal4

I don't have children so I guess my answer there is no?

*waiting patiently for NSFW email*

[xecutable]

Oh the irony. We created this superb spamfilter, just so we can protect you from spam, yet we scan your emails to spam you........ Seriously this is like a Latino soap opera, digital format.

[Christiaan]

Yesterday Google announced that they will stop scanning Gmail for Education: http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/30/goo...-ad-targeting/

Today they announced they will also stop scanning business emails: http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/30/goo...boxes-for-ads/

Do you all feel safer now?

[ocreditor]

Yesterday Google announced that they will stop scanning Gmail for Education: http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/30/goo...-ad-targeting/

Today they announced they will also stop scanning business emails: http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/30/goo...boxes-for-ads/

Do you all feel safer now?

I feel like I'm being watched...

[casinoplanet]

ISP's track the sites we visit, Google scans our email, Facebook collects our interests etc. Yeah, so what? Nothing new imho.
Digital television providers exactly know which programs we watch. Telecom companies know who we're calling every day. Insurance companies use our health or claim history to adjust their rates or even the t&c's. We're filmed by security cams wherever we are. We submit personal information to dozens of customer cards, so shops exactly know what we buy and will buy in the near future. So privacy? What privacy?

This kind of data mining is going on for years and will go on for many as well, since it's big business and people simply don't care. "I have nothing to hide" or "Hey, the product is great and for free". We've given up on privacy far before it became an issue.

[ocreditor]

...We've given up on privacy far before it became an issue.

I wouldn't go so far... its not a big deal (as you said) when Google controls the information or when facebook collects our interests etc'... but I dont believe this means people are going i a direction when they are given up on privacy in general.
Long before the internet the authorities have all the information about us, so the argument is not about the privacy, its about how these corporations are using this private data.

[casinoplanet]

..its about how these corporations are using this private data.

Yes, you're right, but I also think that what people considered private, say 25 years ago, will be a much longer list than what they consider private today. Most of us are quite relaxed about privacy as long as the information is only available to the authority or corporation you submitted it to.

[Renee]

Do you all feel safer now?

Nope because I don't use it for either

I wish this actually could happen sometimes.

/derail