Google's Scanning of Gmail To Deliver Ads May Violate Federal Wiretap Laws 325
New submitter SpacemanukBEJY.53u writes "In a declaration that could make Google very nervous, a U.S. federal judge on Thursday rebuffed Google's defense of its targeted ad system that scans the content of Gmail. Judge Lucy Koh — who also heard the Apple-Samsung case — found Google's terms and conditions and privacy policy isn't clear to users. Koh subsequently allowed a class-action suit to proceed against the company (official ruling). The plaintiffs in the suit allege Google violates federal and state wiretap laws by scannning the messages sent by non-Gmail and Gmail users."
Re:Oh for crying out loud (Score:4, Informative)
... on terms which you have accepted in using the service
Please read the article. The judge specifically said that the "terms are service" are vague and don't indicate that user profiles are being built.
How could Google have been any MORE clear? (Score:5, Informative)
Google has been 100% up-front, since the day they announced the product, that they were going to pay for GMail by scanning your mail messages and guessing at relevant ads. They have made utterly no effort whatsoever to hide or obfuscate this fact.
Re:Oh for crying out loud (Score:5, Informative)
So I guess the question for everyone is should Google (and others) be allowed to scan communications if they state clearly in their EULA what they are doing and why? Does the answer change when the communications include a parties that didn't accept the EULA?
Here is the very first email Google sent to me when I signed up for Gmail service. Bold is added by me.
Just due to the fact Google already does explain it clearly in their (obviously unread) EULA, as well as in their welcome email, and on more than one help/support page, I doubt explaining it yet another time would make any difference to these people.
----------
Gmail Team 6/25/04 to me
First off, welcome. And thanks for agreeing to help us test Gmail. By now you probably know the key ways in which Gmail differs from traditional webmail services. Searching instead of filing. A free gigabyte of storage. Messages displayed in context as conversations.
So what else is new?
Gmail has many other special features that will become apparent as you use your account. Youâ(TM)ll find answers to most of your questions in our searchable help section, which includes a Getting Started guide. You'll find information there on such topics as:
How to use address auto-complete
Setting up filters for incoming mail
Using advanced search options
You may also have noticed some text ads or related links to the right of this message. They're placed there in the same way that ads are placed alongside Google search results and, through our AdSense program, on content pages across the web. The matching of ads to content in your Gmail messages is performed entirely by computers; never by people. Because the ads and links are matched to information that is of interest to you, we hope you'll find them relevant and useful.
You're one of the very first people to use Gmail. Your input will help determine how it evolves, so we encourage you to send your feedback, suggestions and questions to us. But mostly, we hope you'll enjoy experimenting with Google's approach to email.
Speedy Delivery,
The Gmail Team
Re:Oh for crying out loud (Score:5, Informative)
Let's say I send a letter to a friend, and he shows it to his wife. Where is my knowledge and consent? There isn't, but there should be an expectation that the recipient has the authority to show this letter to others. In GMail, the recipient has decided that he wants to show all his incoming mail to Google.
Re:Oh for crying out loud (Score:3, Informative)
To amplify, with Gmail, we [non-business] consumers are not Google's customers, we Google's product.
Perhaps Google can make this clearer what we are 'paying' Google in order to get our storage and mail services, but it was never a mystery to me.
--
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have created a damned large process table.