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Google is Testing Self-Destructing Emails in New Gmail (techcrunch.com)

Posted by msmash on from the up-next dept.

The upcoming update to Gmail might include a feature which would allow users to send emails that expire after a user-defined period of time. From a report: Working on an email service is hard as you have to be compatible with all sorts of email providers and email clients. But it doesn't seem to be stopping Google as the company is now evolving beyond the simple POP3/IMAP/SMTP protocols. Based on those screenshots, expiring emails work pretty much like expiring emails in ProtonMail. After some time, the email becomes unreadable. In the compose screen, there's a tiny lock icon called "confidential mode." It says that the recipient won't be able to forward email content, copy and paste, download or print the email.

6 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. O rly? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I receive data on my computer. It is then uncrypted and displayed on my screen. Ergo, stored in clear in RAM. What prevents me from finding a way to copy-paste this data?

    1. Re:O rly? by o_ferguson · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Conversely, once this "feature" is poplar, you can just produce a "screenshot" of whatever shit you want, and then claim it was sent as an "expiring email." No need to prove it was actually sent anymore. Anyone who uses "expiring email" willingly opens themselves up to whatever fakes other people desire to produce.

      --
      - In Soviet Korea, only old people loose all their bases to Natalie Portman's petrified hot grits overlords.
  2. Screenshot... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So easy to take a screenshot. Also, it's ultimately up to the browser whether to enable copy/paste or not.

    1. Re:Screenshot... by MobyDisk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      FYI: Just because something can be doctored does not mean it is not permitted as evidence. The most common form of evidence is witness testimony, which is inaccurate, easily altered, and degrades over time.

  3. DRM for emails? by TimMD909 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    DRM for emails? Do not want.

  4. the further proprietization of email. by nimbius · · Score: 4, Insightful

    self-destructing, secured, or even recall-able messages have been the hallmark of feature sets demanded by users without so much as a cursory understanding of email. Since most of human civilization uses GMail im sure the hubris of google rides high in testing this new "feature" but for power users or those outside the domain of the big G, this is feature is as useless as 'do not track.'

    mash away at self destruct all you like. Once the message leaves your Google mailserver and enters my Postfix, its mine.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.