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Are there any concerns about privacy? I mean now you have applications that will use a platform that Google is known to scan for information. I know everyone

Are there any concerns about privacy? I mean now you have applications that will use a platform that Google is known to scan for information. I know everyone has heard this before, but I would like to see what people think. A couple of days ago, people were all up in arms about phone companies selling your website traffic. What makes Google better than god forbid AT&T or Verizon?

zitterbewegung 9y ago
These add ons are voluntary and you have to enable them. If someone is under the illusion that Google is better at privacy than anyone else they should re-educate themselves about that .
SquareWheel 9y ago
Well, their privacy policy prohibits that sort of thing. It also doesn't make a lot of business sense, as Google's biggest advantage is being able to target ads based on that data.
icebraining 9y ago
Google says they no longer scan Gmail for advertising. I guess it depends on how much you trust them, but frankly one's emails are often pretty juicy by themselves, so if you're really worried you should probably not use it at all. I moved off it years ago.
- fortythirteen 9y ago
  Do they "no longer scan Gmail for advertising", or do they no longer scan Gmail?
  - icebraining 9y ago
    I'm sure they scan it, otherwise it'd be hard to catch spam. I don't think they ever said they scanned it for any other reason.
    - DerfNet 9y ago
      They explicitly used to scan emails for advertising purposes: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/google-reading-personal-emails-privacy http://www.wired.co.uk/article/google-reading-personal-email...
      - icebraining 9y ago
        Hence any other reason. Advertising was the reason already in discussion.
  - mseebach 9y ago
    They'll have to scan it for search. And spam, as sibling comment mentions. And, really, to store and display it at all, depending on your definition of 'scan'.
    - fortythirteen 9y ago
      My point being that "advertising" is a very limited use case. There's nothing necessarily stopping them from selling your scanned, very personal information to anyone.
      - icebraining 9y ago
        Their privacy policy is very clear that they don't share personal information, with four exception, none of which include selling it. So, if you trust them, they don't.
    - eridius 9y ago
      "Scan" means they take the data out of the "email" silo and use it for purposes other than providing email services to the user (such as using it for advertising). Searching is not "scanning". Nor is any other normal behavior of providing email services. So the question at this point is does Google keep your email data silo'd or do they use it for other purposes?
      - robotresearcher 9y ago
        > Searching is not "scanning" Pray, how does it work, then?
        eridius 9y ago
        Don't be pedantic. Defining "scanning" as "anything that looks at the bits on disk" makes the word meaningless in this context, because then yes, Google must absolutely "scan" it to provide basic functionality, and heck every service everywhere must "scan" their data to provide basic functionality. But that's not useful to talk about.
skybrian 9y ago
First of all, these are integrations that you explicitly install (like installing an app), so that's obviously opt-in. That's a bit different from the adtech stuff many companies do without any benefit to you. Second, why do you ask just about Google and not the other companies involved? For example, if you're interested in the Trello integration, you also need to trust Trello with any data you send there. Presumably anyone interested in that particular add-on has already decided to trust both Gmail and Trello with their data, or they wouldn't install it. Apparently this is what the install screen looks like: https://support.google.com/a/answer/176367?hl=en&ref_topic=1056394 https://support.google.com/a/answer/176367?hl=en&ref_topic=1...
- ceejayoz 9y ago
  > First of all, these are integrations that you explicitly install (like installing an app), so that's obviously opt-in. I don't think the privacy/security concerns should be so cavalierly dismissed. I'm sure I'm not the first to open a friend or relative's computer and discover half a dozen browser toolbars installed. The same is likely to occur here. HN readership may be pretty cautious about this stuff, but HN readership isn't Gmail's only user base.
- oliwarner 9y ago
  Opt in isn't enough to stop it becoming a toilet. Years of Britney Spears Naked Screensavers and malware "removers" have taught us that users are idiots. You can net a bazillion users with one "unlimited space" add-on. Obviously, there's some vetting but that doesn't always work. These add-ons could run on Google's servers and only have connectivity to your inbox and session. Instead, this appears to allow companies to do what they like, sharting your data over multiple jurisdictions if they want. Doesn't fill me with confidence.
  - skybrian 9y ago
    Those are concerns for consumer software (like phone apps), but I'm not sure if these add-ons even work with regular GMail? They seem to be part of "GSuite Marketplace," which is what businesses use, so presumably the domain admin would also have control over which apps can be installed.
yeukhon 9y ago
Before Add-ons, there was Gmail Labs (still exists), just as a note to bear in mind in this discussion.

zitterbewegung 9y ago

These add ons are voluntary and you have to enable them. If someone is under the illusion that Google is better at privacy than anyone else they should re-educate themselves about that .

SquareWheel 9y ago

Well, their privacy policy prohibits that sort of thing. It also doesn't make a lot of business sense, as Google's biggest advantage is being able to target ads based on that data.

icebraining 9y ago

Google says they no longer scan Gmail for advertising. I guess it depends on how much you trust them, but frankly one's emails are often pretty juicy by themselves, so if you're really worried you should probably not use it at all. I moved off it years ago.

fortythirteen 9y ago
Do they "no longer scan Gmail for advertising", or do they no longer scan Gmail?
- icebraining 9y ago
  I'm sure they scan it, otherwise it'd be hard to catch spam. I don't think they ever said they scanned it for any other reason.
  - DerfNet 9y ago
    They explicitly used to scan emails for advertising purposes: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/google-reading-personal-emails-privacy http://www.wired.co.uk/article/google-reading-personal-email...
    - icebraining 9y ago
      Hence any other reason. Advertising was the reason already in discussion.
- mseebach 9y ago
  They'll have to scan it for search. And spam, as sibling comment mentions. And, really, to store and display it at all, depending on your definition of 'scan'.
  - fortythirteen 9y ago
    My point being that "advertising" is a very limited use case. There's nothing necessarily stopping them from selling your scanned, very personal information to anyone.
    - icebraining 9y ago
      Their privacy policy is very clear that they don't share personal information, with four exception, none of which include selling it. So, if you trust them, they don't.
  - eridius 9y ago
    "Scan" means they take the data out of the "email" silo and use it for purposes other than providing email services to the user (such as using it for advertising). Searching is not "scanning". Nor is any other normal behavior of providing email services. So the question at this point is does Google keep your email data silo'd or do they use it for other purposes?
    - robotresearcher 9y ago
      > Searching is not "scanning" Pray, how does it work, then?
      - eridius 9y ago
        Don't be pedantic. Defining "scanning" as "anything that looks at the bits on disk" makes the word meaningless in this context, because then yes, Google must absolutely "scan" it to provide basic functionality, and heck every service everywhere must "scan" their data to provide basic functionality. But that's not useful to talk about.

skybrian 9y ago

First of all, these are integrations that you explicitly install (like installing an app), so that's obviously opt-in. That's a bit different from the adtech stuff many companies do without any benefit to you. Second, why do you ask just about Google and not the other companies involved? For example, if you're interested in the Trello integration, you also need to trust Trello with any data you send there. Presumably anyone interested in that particular add-on has already decided to trust both Gmail and Trello with their data, or they wouldn't install it. Apparently this is what the install screen looks like: https://support.google.com/a/answer/176367?hl=en&ref_topic=1056394 https://support.google.com/a/answer/176367?hl=en&ref_topic=1...

ceejayoz 9y ago
> First of all, these are integrations that you explicitly install (like installing an app), so that's obviously opt-in. I don't think the privacy/security concerns should be so cavalierly dismissed. I'm sure I'm not the first to open a friend or relative's computer and discover half a dozen browser toolbars installed. The same is likely to occur here. HN readership may be pretty cautious about this stuff, but HN readership isn't Gmail's only user base.
oliwarner 9y ago
Opt in isn't enough to stop it becoming a toilet. Years of Britney Spears Naked Screensavers and malware "removers" have taught us that users are idiots. You can net a bazillion users with one "unlimited space" add-on. Obviously, there's some vetting but that doesn't always work. These add-ons could run on Google's servers and only have connectivity to your inbox and session. Instead, this appears to allow companies to do what they like, sharting your data over multiple jurisdictions if they want. Doesn't fill me with confidence.
- skybrian 9y ago
  Those are concerns for consumer software (like phone apps), but I'm not sure if these add-ons even work with regular GMail? They seem to be part of "GSuite Marketplace," which is what businesses use, so presumably the domain admin would also have control over which apps can be installed.

yeukhon 9y ago

Before Add-ons, there was Gmail Labs (still exists), just as a note to bear in mind in this discussion.