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He answers his own question in the article. "https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1304609 https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl

He answers his own question in the article. "https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1304609 https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answ... says that the answer to “Is Google reading my mail?” is “No” but doesn’t elaborate ..." So, he's looking for a more elaborate answer? This is PhilG, so I should cut him some slack, but it seems pretty clear to me.

Bud 15y ago
Misleading. What that document actually says is this: No, but automatic scanning and filtering technology is at the heart of Gmail. Gmail scans and processes all messages using fully automated systems in order to do useful and innovative stuff like filter spam, detect viruses and malware, show relevant ads, and develop and deliver new features across your Google experience. Priority Inbox, spell checking, forwarding, auto-responding, automatic saving and sorting, and converting URLs to clickable links are just a few of the many features that use this kind of automatic processing. In other words, Google IS most certainly "reading" your email, at the very least with computers, for various purposes.
- Retric 15y ago
  I think there is a basic disconnect. There is no way for a computer to anything with an email (save it, give it to you etc) without 'reading' it's contents. So the only meaningful thing for people to worry about is decoding the content which IMO means a spam filter does not qualify as decoding. Nor does displaying adds for tires if the word cars shows up in your email.
  - marshray 15y ago
    So when you visit my website and I see Google pushing ads to you for Justin Bieber posters and pillowcases http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003FCXDRM/ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003FCXDRM/ we'll know Google isn't reading your Gmail. ... or are they? ;-)
    - AgentConundrum 15y ago
      Google does read your email for ads, and that fact is spelled out in their answer quoted above. AdWords/AdSense doesn't only apply to the content of the site you happen to be on, but is an aggregate of all they've learned about you over time. This means that data they collect from relevant keywords in an email is used to show relevant ads to you on a separate website. I've never used AdSense so I don't know how it works. Is it possible for the site owner to read the ads that are displayed to you on a website? Does Google "leak" collected ad data to other websites which use AdSense? Or are these ads typically displayed in something like an iframe, where possibly the "host" website can't read them?
      - X-Istence 15y ago
        Google's Ads are served in an iframe.
        AgentConundrum 15y ago
        I suspected as much, but as I've never used them I wasn't sure. Thanks for clarifying.

Bud 15y ago

Misleading. What that document actually says is this: No, but automatic scanning and filtering technology is at the heart of Gmail. Gmail scans and processes all messages using fully automated systems in order to do useful and innovative stuff like filter spam, detect viruses and malware, show relevant ads, and develop and deliver new features across your Google experience. Priority Inbox, spell checking, forwarding, auto-responding, automatic saving and sorting, and converting URLs to clickable links are just a few of the many features that use this kind of automatic processing. In other words, Google IS most certainly "reading" your email, at the very least with computers, for various purposes.

Retric 15y ago
I think there is a basic disconnect. There is no way for a computer to anything with an email (save it, give it to you etc) without 'reading' it's contents. So the only meaningful thing for people to worry about is decoding the content which IMO means a spam filter does not qualify as decoding. Nor does displaying adds for tires if the word cars shows up in your email.
- marshray 15y ago
  So when you visit my website and I see Google pushing ads to you for Justin Bieber posters and pillowcases http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003FCXDRM/ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003FCXDRM/ we'll know Google isn't reading your Gmail. ... or are they? ;-)
  - AgentConundrum 15y ago
    Google does read your email for ads, and that fact is spelled out in their answer quoted above. AdWords/AdSense doesn't only apply to the content of the site you happen to be on, but is an aggregate of all they've learned about you over time. This means that data they collect from relevant keywords in an email is used to show relevant ads to you on a separate website. I've never used AdSense so I don't know how it works. Is it possible for the site owner to read the ads that are displayed to you on a website? Does Google "leak" collected ad data to other websites which use AdSense? Or are these ads typically displayed in something like an iframe, where possibly the "host" website can't read them?
    - X-Istence 15y ago
      Google's Ads are served in an iframe.
      - AgentConundrum 15y ago
        I suspected as much, but as I've never used them I wasn't sure. Thanks for clarifying.