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Stuart
- The Clopser -
China
2291 Posts |
 Posted - 06/24/2004 : 16:40:17
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Ive just signed up with google mail as I am having problems with hotmail and yahoo, and heard that you get a gig of space for free. However I have heard rumors of gmail users having their privacy violated, in that gmail have used stuff written in emails to sell to companies / government agencies.
Does anyone know anything about this???
Just the good ole boys, never meaning no harm,
that all you ever saw
been in trouble with the law,
since the day they were born |
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shineoftheever
> Teenager of the Year <
Canada
4307 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2004 : 17:17:14
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I think even hotmail has a clause in their free services contracts that state all "creative and intellectual ideas" become the property of microsoft. ie. if you discover the cure for cancer, fail to patent it before you hotmail it to your science buddies account for further examination, microsoft now owns the rights to that idea or some shit. could just be an urban legend though, who the fuck has time to read contracts!
"Here today, Guano tomorrow" |
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shineoftheever
> Teenager of the Year <
Canada
4307 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2004 : 17:22:53
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weird, when i posted that a window popped and and started saying shit about that company i mentioned, I'm not saying their name anymore, I'm scared i'm gonna get a phone call or something.
"Here today, Guano tomorrow" |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2004 : 17:26:51
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What you're hearing about is that Google sifts through emails and finds ads relevent to the content. Their privacy policy explicitly states that this information is never viewed by humans and that nothing personally identifiable is available to anyone without obtaining your permission first. Meaning that they would have available to people advertising with Google the number of hits that they're generating and the number of times their ad is viewed, but not that it was YOU that viewed it.
Here's the text from Google:
What types of personal information do we collect and how do we use it?
Account information. When you register with Google, we will request some personal information, including your first and last name, a user name (which will be used for your email address) and password to create your account. Your password will be maintained on our system in an encrypted form. Just in case you forget your password, we also may ask you to choose a secret question and answer and provide a secondary email address where we can contact you to re-access your Google account. If you already have a Google account, we may ask you for some additional information to enable an email account.
Email contents and usage. The contents of your Gmail account also are stored and maintained on Google servers in order to provide the service. Google's computers process the information in your email for various purposes, including formatting and displaying the information to you, delivering targeted related information (such as advertisements and related links), preventing unsolicited bulk email (spam), backing up your email, and other purposes relating to offering you Gmail. Because we keep back-up copies of data for the purposes of recovery from errors or system failure, residual copies of email may remain on our systems for some time, even after you have deleted messages from your mailbox or after the termination of your account. Google employees do not access the content of any mailboxes unless you specifically request them to do so (for example, if you are having technical difficulties accessing your account) or if required by law, to maintain our system, or to protect Google or the public.
We also may collect information about the use of your account, such as how much storage you are using, how often you log in and other information related to your registration and use of Gmail. Information displayed or clicked on in your Gmail account (including UI elements, ads, links, and other information) is also recorded. We use this information internally to deliver the best possible service to you, such as improving the Gmail user interface, preventing fraud within our advertising system, and better targeting related information.
Google will never sell, rent or share your personal information, including your Gmail address or email content, with any third parties for marketing purposes without your express permission.
How we deliver targeted content to you.
We never share your personally identifying information with any advertiser as part of this service, unless you specifically ask us to do so. When you are logged into your Gmail account, Google will display targeted ads and other relevant information based on the content of the email displayed. In a completely automated process, computers process the text in a message and match it to ads or related information in Google's extensive database. No human reads your mail to target ads or other information without your consent.
Advertisers receive a record of the total number of impressions and clicks for each ad. They do not receive any personal information about the person who viewed the ad. If you click on an ad, Google will send a referring URL to the advertiser's site identifying that you are visiting from Gmail. Google does not send personally identifying information to advertisers with the referring URL. Once you are on the advertiser's site, however, the advertiser may collect personal information about you. Google does not control or take responsibility for the privacy policies of other sites.
Google may send you information related to your Gmail account or other Google services. Because we believe such information is important, you will not be given the opportunity to opt-out of receiving them.
 "When 5000 posts you reach / Look as good you will not, hmmm?" |
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shineoftheever
> Teenager of the Year <
Canada
4307 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2004 : 17:39:03
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Rise of the machines or what?
"No human reads your mail to target ads or other information without your consent."
"Here today, Guano tomorrow" |
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cvanepps
= Cult of Ray =
USA
442 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2004 : 07:57:22
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Anyone see Minority Report? In that flick, when you walked down the street or into a subway or into a retail shop, these scanner things would scan your retina to identify you. Then they'd show you ads on a nearby wall tailored for you.
Gmail is the precursor to that and I don't think it's bad, per se. Funding for anything has to come from somewhere. Google can spare 1GB of server space because it's being paid for by advertising. What's the alternative? Paying an internet tax?
One day, we'll be doing both: enduring ads AND paying an internet tax. So enjoy the "free" ride.
-= It's not easy to kidnap a fat man =-
http://www.cvanepps.com |
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
9168 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2004 : 12:09:04
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Maybe we'll have to pay an ad tax.
Cattle in Korea / They can really moo. |
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Issues with Gmail
