At the time it was implied they would be matched to existing members (a one-time check, as other services did). The "we're holding on to them in perpetuity" bit

At the time it was implied they would be matched to existing members (a one-time check, as other services did). The "we're holding on to them in perpetuity" bit was definitely not clear. The spammy part happened a little later. Relevant (2009): ("facebook sent invites to my entire contact list!") https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/gmail/SvvOuSDUFuA/O6kCMGF9SfMJ https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/gmail/SvvOuSDUF...