Google's New E-mail Service Sparks Privacy Concerns

Information Management Journal, Jul/Aug 2004 by Swartz, Nikki

News, Trends & Analysis

Search engine giant Google has announced plans to introduce "Gmail," a free Web-based e-mail service that would offer users 1 gigabyte of storage. In return for the storage, Google's technology will scan users' incoming e-mail and then deliver targeted ads based on key words in the messages. For instance, a user receiving a message about a friend's new car might also receive ads from insurance companies, gas stations, and repair shops.

And that has privacy watchdogs around the world barking. European groups recently lodged a complaint with U.K. authorities, charging that Gmail may violate Europe's strict privacy laws because it stores messages where users cannot permanently delete them. Europe's privacy protection laws give consumers the right to retain control over their communications.

According to BBC News, London-based Privacy Inter-national is so concerned about the new service that it has filed a complaint with the U.K.'s Information Commissioner, who is responsible for ensuring that privacy and freedom of information codes are enforced in the U.K.

More than two dozen privacy groups in the United States and Europe have demanded that Google suspend Gmail's launch, set for later this year, until privacy issues are adequately addressed. However, Google said in a statement that Gmail is fully compliant with data protection laws worldwide.

The California Senate recently approved a measure that would curtail Gmail. The bill allows e-mails to be scanned for marketing purposes but prohibits companies from compiling the information into a database. It also bans companies from selling or sharing the information they glean to third parties and requires that when customers delete e-mails, they are not stored by the e-mail provider. The legislation, which has moved to the state assembly, applies to all companies that offer e-mail services and places limits on e-mail providers' services to protect users' privacy rights.

Critics also want Google to drop its plans to retain copies of messages from accounts that have been closed. Google co-founder Sergey Brin told The Washington Post that no such database exists, nor will it ever. "We don't store anything related to what ads show up in your e-mail messages. That is one of the misconceptions," he said. "The other really important point is there is no data going out to advertisers or other third parties."

Google has said its computers would electronically analyze the contents of all e-mails sent and received by Gmail accounts so that relevant advertising content can be sent along with incoming messages. According to a statement on Google's Gmail privacy Web site, no human looks at the Gmail e-mail. Computers do the scanning dumbly, robotically, and with no understanding - the same way other e-mail providers scan messages for viruses and spam. Google's Brin said Gmail's ad-targeting system keeps no records of which ads are shown to whom. Ads are matched in real time at the moment a user calls up a message, and then the system forgets those details.

Despite the privacy concerns, many cite the virtues of Gmail, including a design that loads pages faster than competitors, grouping mail to display related messages all at once, and the ability to search e-mail with Google's search engine. Some even say Gmail is destined to become one of the most useful Internet services since Google itself.

Gmail allows users to flag messages with labels of their own choosing, and they can apply different labels to a single message, filing it under several categories at once. An easy-to-use filter feature lets users flag incoming messages with certain labels automatically according to who sends them, the subject line, etc. An "Archive" button moves a message out of the in-box, but it remains searchable. In addition to having a built-in spam filter and virus scan, the new Gmail service will be free of the annoying pop-up and banner ads that permeate the Internet.