The "paying-with-my-data-I-am-the-product" cliche doesn't really work here because Yahoo didn't do this for money. You are also not giving up "some form of copy

The "paying-with-my-data-I-am-the-product" cliche doesn't really work here because Yahoo didn't do this for money. You are also not giving up "some form of copyright" beyond the narrow definition of the license yahoo may require to show it to someone else. Otherwise there'd probably be a few bestsellers owned by google et al. – I'm sure quite a few Harry Potter manuscripts went through their network. There's a certain expectation of the relationship between a service like yahoo's and the customer. Those expectations go beyond what may be the bare minimum that is legally required. Considering that there is healthy competition even in the free tier of email services, consumers are not powerless in the "negotiation" that defines this relationship. The bare minimum of any such relationship must be a truthful and specific description of any access the provider has to my data. Indeed that is a legal requirement in many jurisdictions. But how can I trust them? It depends on the organization. I'm 100% certain that Apple doesn't sell the content of my e-mails because it'd be stupid... They'd be risking a triple-digit-revenue business on what could amount to a few million/year tops. Their and my interest are aligned. Regarding the analogy you weren't following: placing yourself in a position of vulnerability is simply never an excuse for anybody, either legally or morally, to exploit that vulnerability. If I accidentally leave my bike unlocked doesn't change the thieve's legal or moral standing at all.