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On The Privacy Subtleties Of GMail, Other Webmail

Posted by simoniker on from the rockwell-said-it-best dept.

Brad Templeton writes "After talking with Google folks and learning about E-mail privacy law from EFF (join!) lawyers, I have written a new essay on the privacy subtleties of GMail and other advanced webmail applications. Some of the fear has been overdone, but there are surprising issues due to the fact that the ECPA, written almost 20 years ago, wasn't prepared for fancy e-mail offerings like GMail. I issue a call for Google to encrypt your mail to avoid these issues."

10 of 298 comments (clear)

  1. If they encrypt my mail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    How will I read it?!

    1. Re:If they encrypt my mail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      You need the secret decoder ring.

    2. Re:If they encrypt my mail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      More to the point, if they encrypt all mail, it couldn't take too many viagra emails for a decryption to be found.

    3. Re:If they encrypt my mail by L0stb0Y · · Score: 2, Funny

      After they encrypt your email, every message will simply read "be sure to drink your ovaltine"....problem solved.

      --
      "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."
    4. Re:If they encrypt my mail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      +10000 in-the-know obscure ovaltine reference

    5. Re:If they encrypt my mail by Alcohol+Fueled · · Score: 3, Funny

      Why? So he can see that his email is telling him to... drink more Ovaltine!?! :)

      --
      Ah am not a crook! (\(-__-)/)
  2. That old moldy tome by nukey56 · · Score: 2, Funny

    From what I can tell of the post-9/11 legislation, it seems that for congress to even mention the ECPA, they'd have to remove both 1984 and The Colonel's Recipe just to be able to see the layer of dust covering it.

    One word to all these gmail protesters: gohugatree!

  3. Dictionary Definition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    From http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=geek

    geek ( P ) Pronunciation Key (gk)
    n. Slang
    1.
    1. A person regarded as foolish, inept, or clumsy.
    2. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.

    2. A carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.

    Most slashdot users would fit 1A or 1B quite well. Me, I'm going for number 2.

  4. Re:S'funny by llin · · Score: 2, Funny

    When Gmail first premiered, the only option was to 'archive' your email. As a result of the uproar there is now an explicit 'Delete forever' option in the action pulldown in the Trash and Spam folders.

  5. Re:grr. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    This is pretty rediculous if you ask me. People in America give away their privacy rights all the time, without any worry.

    People also give away their spelling rights, but few seem to care. The situation is, I find, rather ridiculous.