Gmails Potential Dirty Side

CplDavisCplDavis I hunt the arctic Snonos Join Date: 2003-01-09 Member: 12097Members
Just b/c I like to play devils advocate,

With all the hype about Gmail (including me wanting one) what does everyone think about this?

<a href='http://gmail-is-too-creepy.com/' target='_blank'>http://gmail-is-too-creepy.com/</a>

also of note are the sub articles at the bottom of the link I just posted about

"Your cookie tastes better to Google with your email address"

"Undeleted personal files can haunt you (just ask Sergey)" nice pics of google cofounder wearing dress

"Thirty-one organizations urge Google to suspend Gmail"

<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->April 20, 2004 -- California State Senator Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont) introduced legislation (SB 1822) that would require email providers to get consent from both parties of an email exchange before the content can be reviewed or used for purposes like ad placement.
May 3, 2004 -- SB 1822 is amended so that consent is no longer a feature of the bill. The bill now focuses on allowing email to be scanned for contemporaneous posting of content-based ads. The PRC continues to work with the author on language for the bill though disappointed that the original intention of the bill has been removed.

The bill can be viewed online at:
www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1801-1850/sb_1822_bill_20040420_amended_sen.pdf
May 3, 2004 -- The Electronic Privacy Information Center (www.epic.org) along with the World Privacy Forum (www.worldprivacyforum.org) and the PRC sent a letter to California Attorney General Bill Lockyer asking that it investigate Google’s Gmail service for possible violations of state eavesdropping and wiretapping laws. The letter points out that California law requires all-party consent and that those who send email to the Gmail.com domain have not given express permission for the content of their correspondence to be reviewed for keywords and subsequent ad placement. If Google is found to be in violation of California’s Penal Code 631, Gmail users could face possible civil and criminal penalties, the letter states.

<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->



<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->If Google builds a database of keywords associated with email addresses, the potential for abuse is staggering. Google could grow a database that spits out the email addresses of those who used those keywords. How about words such as "box cutters" in the same email as "airline schedules"? Can you think of anyone who might be interested in obtaining a list of email addresses for that particular combination? Or how about "mp3" with "download"? Since the RIAA has sent subpoenas to Internet service providers and universities in an effort to identify copyright abusers, why should we expect Gmail to be off-limits?
Intelligence agencies would love to play with this information. Diagrams that show social networks of people who are inclined toward certain thoughts could be generated. This is one form of "data mining," which is very lucrative now for high-tech firms, such as Google, that contract with federal agencies. Email addresses tied to keywords would be perfect for this. The fact that Google offers so much storage turns Gmail into something that is uniquely dangerous and creepy.

<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

opinions please.

Comments

  • TestamentTestament Join Date: 2002-11-02 Member: 4037Members
    Opinions? Conspiracy theorists are idiots.
  • VerthandiVerthandi Join Date: 2002-12-12 Member: 10687Members, NS1 Playtester
    edited August 2004
    They give me Invites (for free), consumers are willing to pay money for said Invites, I sell them on eBay.

    This helps pay for my daily expenses, so all is well, and I couldn't care less even if Google was run by Nazi cyborgs.

    <i>edit: There is no conspiracy, and if there ever is one, it'd involve shooting conspiracy theorists.</i>
  • CplDavisCplDavis I hunt the arctic Snonos Join Date: 2003-01-09 Member: 12097Members
    edited August 2004
    <!--QuoteBegin-Verthandi+Aug 26 2004, 12:39 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Verthandi @ Aug 26 2004, 12:39 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> They give me Invites (for free), consumers are willing to pay money for said Invites, I sell them on eBay.

    This helps pay for my daily expenses, so all is well, and I couldn't care less even if Google was run by Nazi cyborgs.

    <i>edit: There is no conspiracy, and if there ever is one, it'd involve shooting conspiracy theorists.</i> <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Then again people still pay billions every year to give themselves lung cancer as well lol


    heheh Im still goining to use mine thanks to rellix,

    Now I can send and recieve some nice hefty sized files for misc. stuff.
  • coilcoil Amateur pirate. Professional monkey. All pance. Join Date: 2002-04-12 Member: 424Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
    Not worried. Gmail's TOS says they won't do anything bad to me through my email, or scanning my email, and I trust them. More people should trust others in this world.
  • RandomEngyRandomEngy Join Date: 2002-11-03 Member: 6146Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Did it ever occur to these morons that any email server can monitor and collect information on the email that passes through it? The only thing Google does different is use the information to place ads. And what about spam filters? They look at your emails too. Should every email server that uses a spam filter be investigated? It astounds me that the level of ignorance is so high there's actually a bill out there about it.
  • Dorian_GrayDorian_Gray Join Date: 2004-02-15 Member: 26581Members, Constellation
    Meh I trust google, and yeah its not much different than a spam filter IMHO. Oh, and I doubly like gmail since they gave me 11 invites on 2 seperate accounts in the past 3 minutes <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • AlkillerAlkiller Join Date: 2004-05-23 Member: 28847Members
    Does make me feel awkward.

    <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->No conversations in the trash. Who needs to delete when you have 1000 MB of storage?!<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Hehe, I just find that funny. "Why delete your message? Why?<!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/confused-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->"

    Kinda... wierd. But I think I can trust google.
  • BaconTheoryBaconTheory Join Date: 2003-09-06 Member: 20615Members
    Well who knows, maybe Gmail is evil, but most people love it. Anyhow, who knows, it mught be evil now that Google is into stock options and money......
  • MulletMullet Join Date: 2003-04-28 Member: 15910Members, Constellation
    I'd trust google with my right nu...yea I trust them.
  • HumanoidBetaHumanoidBeta Join Date: 2004-03-15 Member: 27342Members
    O_o that site is scary, I had a window open on google and one with that google cookie page, and because my netscape disables cookies the numbers were always changing o_O I had fun, except for the ten try per user per day lol
Sign In or Register to comment.