Does Gmail Break The Law?
from the that-wouldn't-be-good dept
Going beyond even the concerns of some that Google's new Gmail email service is creepy, there are some who are claiming that it violates the EU's strict data privacy laws. They say that because Google doesn't actually delete emails that people delete, and because machines scan the email to place ads (and relevant search results, apparently) in the emails, it violates laws concerning opening and deleting emails. Of course, I wonder how many email services really delete emails when the user tries to delete the message. While I do believe privacy issues are important, it still seems like people are going a bit overboard on this. If they don't want to use Gmail, there are thousands of other options. It's not as if Google has announced that all email must run through Google. This is a tradeoff situation, where you get to use Google email in exchange for the ads. For many, many people, I'd bet that seems like a fair tradeoff.
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Then they'll care. It's probably best that it gets brought to their attention right from the get go.
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What is "deleting"
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Re: What is "deleting"
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