That's not what they're saying at all; they're saying, as agreed to in the TOS, they will require "read, copy, and modify" permissions to messages. They need to

That's not what they're saying at all; they're saying, as agreed to in the TOS, they will require "read, copy, and modify" permissions to messages. They need to read to provide world-class, spam filtering, virus protection, etc. They need to copy to distribute messages across redundant storage, so you don't lose your messages and they are readily available around the world on any device. They need to modify to display your messages in a sexy fashion. Among other reasons to require these permissions. You are very welcome to not agree to the TOS, and it's unlikely they are going to make exceptions to be able to turn off these features and need for the subsequent permissions, because most people won't give a crap about a non-human "reading" their messages, and everyone +/-1% will do a worse job at securing their own email service.