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Google's Scanning of Gmail To Deliver Ads May Violate Federal Wiretap Laws

Posted by Soulskill on from the google's-lawyers-must-be-busy-folk dept.

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."

2 of 325 comments (clear)

  1. Amazon Does this too by gishzida · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Google isn't the only one that reads your mail.

    If you have a Kindle Fire or Fire HD they are reading it too. I had the upsetting experience of reading an email on my Kindle Fire HD that announced my father's death and then not more than a few hours later was served a "recommendation" on my Kindle a book on how to write a Eulogy.

    I deleted my email account information from the kindle and shut down the recommendation system on the device... and I told Amazon how creepy they were... At least Google hasn't served creepy ads like that... so far...

    Maybe Amazon should learn from Google and adopt "Don't Be Creepy" as their motto. Are you listening, Mr. Bezos?

    [By the way I tried at the time to put Amazon's actions up as a news story on Slashdot... but it was not picked up as a story...]

  2. Informed consent? Really? by satch89450 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    "But people who send e-mail imply consent..."

    I'm a long-time Google Apps user, and my company's domain is on all mail receipents' mail, not "gmail.com". So how can you have implied consent when the sender doesn't know that the mail is being sent through Google?