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Gmail users should not expect privacy, says Google in stunning admission

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Gmail users should not expect privacy, says Google in stunning admissionby Marc Pinter-Krainer Internet giant Google has stated that users of its Gmail online email service, or people who email them, should not expect privacy LONDON, United Kingdom -- A Google company brief filed last month with a U.S. federal court in response to a lawsuit accusing the internet giant of violating privacy laws when it reads users' emails contains a stunning admission: Gmail users or people who email them should have "no legitimate expectation of privacy" - ever. The filing was recently unearthed by Consumer Watchdog. According to Google's brief, Gmail users should assume that any of their received or sent email communication can and may be fully accessed and used by the internet giant for a whole slew of purposes, including user profiling and selling ads. "Google has finally admitted they don't respect privacy," said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project director. "People should take them at their word; if you care about your email correspondents' privacy don't use Gmail." The latest revelation in Google's privacy practices comes as the U.S. corporation is under fire over its personal data processing and sharing on both sides of the Atlantic. The internet giant was named by the Guardian newspaper as one of the companies that gives the NSA "direct access to its systems" as part of the PRISM U.S. government citizen surveillance programme - allegations which Google has denied. Meanwhile Google has come under pressure to rewrite its privacy policy in Europe after altering it 18 months ago to unify its data collection across various Google services including GMail, search, mapping, YouTube and advertising services. Privacy watchdogs in the UK, Germany and Italy have told Google to rewrite its European privacy policy by 20 September or face the possibility of legal action.
 

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Internet giant Google has stated that users of its Gmail online email service, or people who email them, should not expect privacy

LONDON, United Kingdom -- A Google company brief filed last month with a U.S. federal court in response to a lawsuit accusing the internet giant of violating privacy laws when it reads users' emails contains a stunning admission: Gmail users or people who email them should have "no legitimate expectation of privacy" - ever.

The filing was recently unearthed by Consumer Watchdog.

According to Google's brief, Gmail users should assume that any of their received or sent email communication can and may be fully accessed and used by the internet giant for a whole slew of purposes, including user profiling and selling ads.

"Google has finally admitted they don't respect privacy," said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project director. "People should take them at their word; if you care about your email correspondents' privacy don't use Gmail."

The latest revelation in Google's privacy practices comes as the U.S. corporation is under fire over its personal data processing and sharing on both sides of the Atlantic. The internet giant was named by the Guardian newspaper as one of the companies that gives the NSA "direct access to its systems" as part of the PRISM U.S. government citizen surveillance programme - allegations which Google has denied.

Meanwhile Google has come under pressure to rewrite its privacy policy in Europe after altering it 18 months ago to unify its data collection across various Google services including GMail, search, mapping, YouTube and advertising services. Privacy watchdogs in the UK, Germany and Italy have told Google to rewrite its European privacy policy by 20 September or face the possibility of legal action.

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At least they become 'honest' admitting it publicly. And there is no NSA, or gov based agencies concern in here. The real problem is that Google may trace a precedent that may cause the real privacy death in all private communications for commercial exploitation purposes...  A real mess! I fear something like "Minority Report" scenario, where with a retina scan 'they' are able to push 'personal' advertising to everyone. That was a real nightmare to me :(

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At the rate Google are going with the disrespect for it's users it could need a all to boycott them until they sort themselves out. Emails are meant to be private and MUST stay that way.

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Well , I'm not surprised by their admission .

 

 

Is any email service safe from the Governments prying eyes , you may as well add Microsoft and Yahoo to this story as well !

 

The NSA has more power than the Elected Officials who are suppose to have oversight of them , the Elected officials are in the hip pockets of the multi-billion dollar corporations that fund their campaigns to get elected and time and again re-elected .  This is a cycle that will never end because the people have no one that cares about their privacy concerns in Washington .

 

 Let's just remember that this was all started under the guise of our security from terrorists threats , governments all over the world have been spying on it's citizens in the name of safety . How many CCTV 's are there now in your cities , how big are the budgets for local police depts. because around here they can afford to buy cell phone tracking equipment , new SUV's every year and get free hummers to drive from the Homeland security Dept. .

 

  Every big Tech Corporation is in bed with our government to get a Contract , so if that means they have to give the governments of the world a backdoor key to our information that's fine as long as they get to keep their Big monopolies in place .

 

 The internet as a whole is a risky place to do anything nowadays and it's not going to get any easier to try to keep your personal info private .

 

 Such Sadness :(

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The cloud concept isn't private at all. But the alternative it's to own a private data-center with all the needed storage for yourself... Ah, the sharing concept isn't private neither... Who really has data, doesn't share a bit of it :D

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There's privacy and then there's privacy...there is the privacy where you choose who gets to see what, and then there is the privacy where certain government departments will make all the effort they can to see it.

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mmmhhhh.... and you choose based on your preferences, or based on the privacy policy that you have subscribed not having fully read it or, as we are not lawyers, understood?

I understand that there is a lot of hype on government agencies, and I just cannot have an opinion based on my correctness as I'm not a US citizen, but we are here discussing about private corporations that simply admit that they don't respect privacy, and neither they respect your personal choices on what's you want to share and what's not as, when you hit 'share' what you are sharing is simply 'game' :D

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Privacy hasn't existed on the internet for a long time...governments have been using the red flag method for yrs but people have only just started listening to this since wiki leaks made it public. That is really sad! There are some of us who knew it was going on long before it was made public and therefore not a shock. I find it bewildering that joe public have acted so naively and closed their eyes to it hoping or wishing it didn't exist or that it would go away. Neither were or are going to be true and thats all there is to it really.

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For sure you are an expert on the IT stuff, and you have walked your walk since the beginning, as I have :)

I find it bewildering that joe public have acted so naively and closed their eyes to it hoping or wishing it didn't exist or that it would go away. Neither were or are going to be true and thats all there is to it really.

But the problem here is something really wicked, that is fighting even against the joe public most informed.

 

In the past few years, Google, and other companies, have pushed the same joe public to share and to share and to publish and to share. Then the cloud was born. And think about projects and data that, not the big corps, but the average-little ones, are putting every holy day on the net.

So even if you push on education and information (that is always a good thing to do), you'll find a plethora of services that will void any effort to defend and protect privacy. Then, those same service providers admit that they will not assume any responsibility on the privacy protection of what you have published using their services, or that simply they have lied to you about the privacy policy that you have naively, but trustingly, subscribed.

And look at Facebook as an example with all the soi-disant privacy security breaches, because google become too easy to attack here.

 

There was a rule in the old days. If you want privacy protection, don't put it on any kind of network. Cut the NW wire and shut down any WIFI you may have (then you may start to think about STORM... and you'll need some other safety :D). This is 'some kind' of protection. But then, a huge 'sharing market' has begun and no one is seeing where this will end as 'there are no rules'.

 

So, don't blame joe public, please. Many individuals have amassed millions simply leveraging the average felt need to share something. At least, in EU they are more serious about privacy and, even if it's only a facade I easily admit it, providers must respect more regulations before offering any kind of sharing good... Not to directly protect privacy, but to be able to sue them if something goes wrong. So, what must change in your opinion?

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