gee! Mail

1
Magnifying the fine printAn excerpt of
Gmails Privacy Policy and Terms of Service
Gmail!
2
A Byte About Gmail

• 01. 04. 2004 ? Google unveils free email service
  called Gmail
• Gmail ? 1st to provide 1GB of storage with every
  account
• New accounts were by invitation only, meaning an
  invite from an existing user was required
• The invites the 1GB space created a huge demand
  for Gmail ? at one point, invitations were being
  sold for more than 100 on eBay!

Google gave me a Gig! April 1st, 2004
3
Did you know?

• There are 1.3 billion email users worldwide and
  the estimated number of emails sent on a daily
  basis is around 210 billion
• This means that 1 in every 5 people in the
  world has an email account and that on average,
  more than 2 million emails are sent per second!

However!!

• Only about 30 of that 210 billion are
• genuine emails!

4
Why is that so??

• Answer SPAM.
• Spam ? makes up for more than 70 of the emails
  an average person receives daily
• Otherwise known as Junk mail, it is every
  Internet users worse nightmare!
• This is why free web mail provider boasts
  premium spam protection as one of the main
  reasons why they are so popular.

5

• But first!
• A closer look at the
• fine print

What are you really signing up for with Gmail?
6
Gmail Officially Says

• However, in the Privacy Policy, it states
• Google maintains and processes your Gmail
  account and its contents to provide the Gmail
  service to you and to improve our services.
  Google's computers process the information in
  your messages for various purposes, including
  formatting and displaying the information to you,
  delivering advertisements and related links,
  preventing unsolicited bulk email (spam), backing
  up your messages, and other purposes relating to
  offering you Gmail.

7
What does this mean?

• Basically, Google computers automatically scan
  all emails passing through to provide customised
  content and advertising, thereby making it
  possible to profit off that knowledge
• That is why people have raised concerns about
  this becoming a major security problem

But thats not all!

• Googles Privacy Policy also states
• Google's servers automatically record certain
  information about your use of Gmail. Google
  records information such as account activity,
  data displayed or clicked on and other log
  information (including browser type, IP-address,
  date and time of access, cookie ID, and referrer
  URL)

8
ONE EXAMPLE!

• Consumer Watchdog is an American consumer
  advocacy group that believes Gmail is neither
  private nor secure
• In a Consumer Watchdog video, it shows that
  regardless of whether you are a Gmail user or
  not, Google will read the contents of your
  emails, so long as it passes through their
  service
• Consumer Watchdog also highlights how the "auto
  save" function in many Google apps creates an
  unprotected communication for users, as all
  messages and drafts will be kept indefinitely in
  Googles systems

9
Gmail Says...

• This means that even a 'deleted' message or a
  draft will be retained in the Google archives for
  2 months and later on kept somewhere in Googles
  storage room forever.
• Your personal privacy (all 1 GB worth of it) is
  100 at risk of being invaded!!

Feel like terminating your account now?
10
Easier Said Than Done!

• Gmails Terms of Service (ToS) states

• Therefore, it is not as easy as simply
  terminating your account through the Gmail
  settings!
• In fact, an actual notice has to be sent, in
  writing, to Googles physical address before the
  email account is considered legally terminated
• Seriously, who knew?

11
To conclude!

• As Gmail has the right to change its Privacy
  Policy unilaterally, individuals and groups alike
  have classified their lack of transparency and
  ambiguous words as problematic
• Because Gmail is part of Google, the main concern
  is that Google has the ability to combine
  information contained in a persons email
  messages with information garnered from Internet
  searches.
• Google defends its position by claiming that
  email-scanning are for the users benefit (e.g.
  Spam blocking) but the question is

Is spam protection really worth trading your
privacy for?
I THINK NOT!
12
Thank you for watching my presentation! ?
-Claire, a legally bound Gmail user
13
References

• Images
• Beaumont, C. 2009. Google Gmail service hit by
  phishing scam. Telegraph.co.uk, Telegraph
  Media Group Limited. http//www.telegraph.co.uk/t
  echnology/google/4804461/Google-Gmail-service-hit-
  by-phishing-scam.html (accessed 28th September
  2009)
• Consumer Watchdog Cartoon 2004. Cartoon Stock
  CSL Cartoonstock. http//www.cartoonstock.com/site
  search.asp?ANDkeywordconsumerwatchdogperformSea
  rchTRUEmainArchivemainArchivenewsCartoonnewsC
  artoonvintagevintageanimationanimationsubmitB
  uttonSearch. (accessed 28th September 2009)
•  Google M logo (2009) Official Gmail blog
  Google Inc. http//gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009_09_
  01_archive.html (accessed 28th September 2009) 
• Google TOS screenshot and Google Logos (2009).
  Gmail terms. Google Inc. http//mail.google.com
  /mail/help/terms.html (accessed 28th September
  2009) 
• Nitrozac Snaggy. (2004). The Joy of tech
  cartoon Geek culture. http//www.geekculture.com/
  joyoftech/joyarchives/560.html (accessed 28th
  September 2009)

14
References

• Caldwell, C. "Google writes its own
  rules." Financial Times,  September 12, 2009, 
  http//www.proquest.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/ (a
  ccessed October 1, 2009)
• "Consumer Watchdog Congress Warned of Google
  Privacy Security Risks After Google Markets
  Services to Staffers on Hill New Video Shows
  Privacy Problems With Gmail." Biotech Week, 
  December 3, 2008, 2961.  http//www.proquest.com.d
  bgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/ (accessed September 29,
  2009)
• Google. What is Gmail?. Google Inc, 2009.
  http//mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hlen
  answer6554 (accessed September 30, 2009)
• Hailey, A. Gmail hits the Auction Block. PC
  World, May 27, 2004, http//www.pcworld.idg.com.au
  /article/50966/gmail_hits_auction_block (accessed
  September 30, 2009)
• Hu, J. Yahoo bolsters e-mail storage to 1GB.
  CNET News, March 22, 2005, http//news.cnet.com/Ya
  hoo-bolsters-e-mail-storage-to-1GB/2100-1032_3-563
  0773.html (accessed October 1, 2009)
• Romero, R. Group warns of Google browsing,
  email. Consumer Watchdog, November 18, 2008.
  http//www.consumerwatchdog.org/corporateering/art
  icles/?storyId23929 (accessed October 1, 2009)
• "Online profiling DPI's bad, data mining's
  worse What to make of Google's e-mail
  scanning." Network World (Online), 
  August 20, 2008, 15.  http//www.proquest.com.dbgw
  .lis.curtin.edu.au/ (accessed September 29,
  2009).
• Tschabitscher, H. How Many Emails are Sent A
  day?About.com, New York Times Company 2009,
  http//email.about.com/od/emailtrivia/f/emails_per
  _day.htm (accessed Sept 28, 2009)