# Gmail Terms of Service: We read your mail **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 18, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389 "2014-04-18T03:26:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![2nd\_Law](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f475e1/32.png) [@2nd\_Law](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2nd_Law)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/1 "2014-04-18T03:26:03Z")
Relevant article: [Google codifies its right to crawl through your emails](http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/google-codifies-its-right-to-crawl-through-your-emails-20140417-zqvok.html?fb_action_ids=10151961367817391&fb_action_types=og.recommends) In addition to simply not liking the idea of unknown people reading my email, I can see real problems for people who use gmail for business purposes. Not only does Google have one’s banking information if they are using a gmail account with their bank, I would think medical and legal professionals can’t use gmail (sending or receiving to/from gmail accounts) due to confidentiality concerns. So, anyone else going to drop gmail due to this? ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/2 "2014-04-18T03:57:25Z")
No. But I’m not saying anything confidential over email anyway. I don’t think it’s right but there’s nothing we can do about it now. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Holdsworth_Effect)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/3 "2014-04-18T04:16:57Z")
I use gmail…but at work, we use a secured messaging part of our electronic record setup. ANY commercial email is not considered secure enough for medical patient information or contact. ---
**Author:** ![awaag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@awaag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awaag)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/4 "2014-04-18T09:28:48Z")
No. It’s free web based e-mail, you kind of had to expect them to be doing something like this. Your habits and interests are what make them money. The more they know about you the better they can target their advertising. (I secretly think that Google’s goal is to turn every individual on the planet into a nielsen family.) :dubious: I definitely dont think it’s right, but if you want security or privacy your going to have to pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/5 "2014-04-18T09:41:36Z")
Wait, does this cover sent mail, received mail, or both? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/6 "2014-04-18T09:53:08Z")
I don’t understand the sudden fuss. I have always been aware that they scan your email for keywords so they can target ads to you. This was my understanding when I signed up seven-ish years ago. Suddenly everyone is freaking out and Google is clarifying their position in their TOS, but I honestly thought this was always common knowledge. Is there something new about how they read your mail or what they do with the information? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/7 "2014-04-18T10:18:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Someone gives you something and they don’t charge you…you’re not the customer, you’re the product. I certainly can’t use it for business. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/8 "2014-04-18T12:02:33Z")
Google has been scanning your email since GMail launched. This was a big deal when GMail launched as it was the first email service to use automated scanning to serve up relevant ads. A lot of people protested and Google’s response was essentially “If you want free email, then deal with it.” The clarification of the TOS doesn’t add any new information to this equation. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/9 "2014-04-18T12:34:47Z")
People who need secure email can sign up for Google Enterprise, which offers no-ad gmail for a fee, and is used by plenty of businesses. They would probably benefit by adding a personal version for security minded folks. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/10 "2014-04-18T14:24:07Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > People who need secure email can sign up for Google Enterprise, which offers no-ad gmail for a fee, and is used by plenty of businesses. > > They would probably benefit by adding a personal version for security minded folks. It doesn’t matter. You can’t have privacy with online content, unless it is short-term and you are using encryption (the information doesn’t matter after decryption). Your online communications are subject to review at the federal level anytime any agency under DHS wants it. What’s funny is that not too long ago this was a crackpot paranoia. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/11 "2014-04-18T14:34:37Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I certainly can’t use it for business. Gmail has corporate accounts - I worked for a corporate GMail customer - you pay them, they don’t scan your email. But for a small company, yeah, that isn’t going to work. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/12 "2014-04-18T14:37:19Z")
To be honest, I have always assumed my email provider and anybody in the chain can read my emails and I’ve assumed this since I started using email. So Google is just admitting to something I thought they’ve been doing since I’ve signed up for my Gmail account. Providing targeted advertising is their business. The computer services are the means to provide their advertising services, but Google is, above all, an advertising company. A _different_ one, true, but still they’re an ad shop based on the proposition that their computer and data services provide the most targeted means of getting a businesses message to interested consumers. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/13 "2014-04-18T14:46:31Z")
If your bank is sending you private banking information via email then you need to switch banks, not email providers. I have a lot of accounts with banks (business and personal) and none of them are in the habit of sending anything more than secure links, or figures-wise, balance due. Free email is not the only option for small businesses. As a small business owner, I think free email is a silly option for small businesses. You should be paying for email service on your own domain just like you pay for phone service and water service. It’s part of running a business now. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/14 "2014-04-18T14:51:11Z")
Yeah, this has pretty much always been my understanding of the deal gmail provided. They scan your email for ad data, you get free email and storage. Seems like a pretty good deal to me. I kinda doubt Larry Page is going to be stealing my bank info to clear out my 300 dollar checking account. But if you don’t like the deal, don’t use the product. Same as anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/15 "2014-04-18T15:08:13Z")
Before this, how did people think it made context-appropriate ads? Necromancy? And if you have a problem with software reading your email, I have bad news for you. Every step of the way from the creation of the email at its source to it being shown in front of your eyes on your computer is the result of software reading and copying your email. And not just Gmail, every email system from the first to the last. Emails do not swim through the “series of pipes” on their own volition, then can only get from point a to point b by being read and transmitted by email server software and network software. If that’s a problem for you, then you better printing out those funny pictures of cats and sending them snail mail instead. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/16 "2014-04-18T15:17:56Z")
> [@The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](#): > > I use gmail…but at work, we use a secured messaging part of our electronic record setup. ANY commercial email is not considered secure enough for medical patient information or contact. This. Our company email is encrypted because it so soften carries PHI (privileged health information). ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/17 "2014-04-18T15:28:19Z")
> [@awaag](#): > > (I secretly think that Google’s goal is to turn every individual on the planet into a nielsen family.) :dubious: A very poorly concealed secret, then; I came to that conclusion almost from the outset. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/18 "2014-04-18T15:43:06Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Google has been scanning your email since GMail launched. This was a big deal when GMail launched as it was the first email service to use automated scanning to serve up relevant ads. A lot of people protested and Google’s response was essentially “If you want free email, then deal with it.” The clarification of the TOS doesn’t add any new information to this equation. I’m fairly sure that MicroSoft has been doing such scanning for years, at least of their chat function but also of their email. All of my account settings show I prefer English but when I am chatting in another language I start getting ads in that other language. It happens even if I am on English language websites and even if I am using a different browser. It always seemed a it creepy to me. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/19 "2014-04-18T16:17:26Z")
In 1990something, I briefly made use of a free internet-based provided service, although it wasn’t email: GeoCities (for free web hosting) Being a Macintosh user, I knew of a free internet-based online storage service from Apple, called iDisk. Didn’t sign up, didn’t need it. I didn’t need free email since I had always had email services provided to me by my ISP, it was specifically part of the deal: internet connectivity (dialup, originally) plus internet presence (email and baseline web hosting and/or FTP file storage), but I knew plenty of people who did use free email services: from yahoo, from Microsoft (hotmail), from juno, and so on. Geocities first imposed ads on our pages without our permission, then (after I’d lef them in disgust) yanked the carpet out from under everyone. Apple started charging (and changed the name to something like .Mac then something stoopid like MobileMe) then yanked the carpet out from under all their users. As for free email, I forget the details but there have been oodles of times where free email was cancelled out from under the entire customer base or they started placing new restrictions or cancelling individual accounts without discussion for alleged infringements and so on and so forth. I suppose there’s no solidly enforceable ironclad guarantee that my paid email service provider won’t go out of business or suddenly change the rules in ways that would annoy the hell out of me and make me leave, but it seems like paid services are more dependable and less likely to do annoying things. They don’t charge me very much. Is free email really worth the hassle and the vulnerability? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389/20 "2014-04-18T16:25:52Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > If your bank is sending you private banking information via email then you need to switch banks, not email providers. I have a lot of accounts with banks (business and personal) and none of them are in the habit of sending anything more than secure links, or figures-wise, balance due. Although I have no information that Chrome, Firefox or IE is scanning or saving any data from emails, the technology of a browser makes it possible to scan EVERYTHING that you view in HTML. Unless banks send all data as bitmapped images, if it displays on your screen, it can be stored as machine readable data. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-terms-of-service-we-read-your-mail/686389.md?page=2)