On Monday, Google (News - Alert) updated its terms of service for all Gmail users. So what's the change? Google is now informing users about how their emails will be automatically scanned by Google's software to create targeted ads directed at the user, including both incoming and outgoing messages. Google had already been involved in this practice before and was met with controversy, but now Google hopes to address these concerns by being more transparent about how it collects data.
In particular, Google's software scans user emails whenever messages are stored onto Google's servers, and whenever they are in transit across their networks. Noting which messages are sent at which times tells Google a great deal about what a user currently values, while having access to the messages when they are stored on the servers gives a broader sense of what that user's interests are as a whole.
Gmail users have already voiced their concerns about the message scanning by claiming that it violated several state and federal privacy and wiretapping laws. Google has met these arguments by saying that users implicitly consented to this activity as part of the email delivery process. Unfortunately, the practice of creating secret profiles for monitoring a user's mail was not included in the original terms of service. A U.S. Judge has already ruled not to combine the several lawsuits against Google for privacy violations into a single class action lawsuit last month.
By disclosing the scanning practice within the terms of service, Google is ensuring that users are explicitly consenting to this practice before using their services. Now, the TOS agreement includes a paragraph stating that “our automated systems analyze your content (including emails) to provide you personally relevant product features, such as customized search results, tailored advertising, and spam and malware detection. This analysis occurs as the content is sent, received, and when it is stored.”
Of course, the possibility still exists that Gmail may be using this data for other undisclosed purposes. Considering that the company was named by Edward Snowden as one that complied with the NSA dragnet surveillance program, this possibility appears to be increasingly likely.
Edited by Alisen Downey
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