3 ms·
Gmail is a webmail provider. They have to retain a copy of every email sent/received, or you would only be able to read them once. They have to scan email, beca
by jmillikin 14y ago
Gmail is a webmail provider. They have to retain a copy of every email sent/received, or you would only be able to read them once. They have to scan email, because otherwise you couldn't search them.
It is easy to set up Gmail such that Google doesn't have access to the text content of your mail -- simply install a desktop mail client (e.g. Thunderbird) and enable encryption. But now you've essentially disabled every feature of Gmail except for being a dumb SMTP relay.
- huhtenberg 14y agoThis is all fine and dandy (and obvious), but the point is that Google is not just a webmail provider. When someone switches to Gmail, it affects me, because it lets Google track and profile me that much better. Hence the original comment - "unplugging" from Google is basically impossible, because of the proliferation of Gmail use.
- jmillikin 14y agoIf you're sending someone an email, Google keeping track of "John Doe emails huhtenberg@whatever.com" is much less of a threat than all of the dozens of intermediate parties that will record your email indefinitely.
- jasonlotito 14y agoThis would be a problem if GMail was the only means by which to contact people. It's not. You have a choice to use email. The truth is, when you contact someone, you don't know what is happening to that information. Gmail, if anything, makes it more clear than most other means of communication.