| The Google user agreement clearly spells it all out in their Terms of
Service.
|

Indeed. They have no shame. Google boss Eric Schmidt
famously said that if people think they need privacy then
they're probably doing something they shouldn't be. The
political naivety in that statement is stunning. (The Jews
under Hitler come to mind. Vietnam War protesters. Enemies
of J. Edgar Hoover. People involved with the Occupy
movement. Gays. ...Anyone in a position where they must
stand up for their own rights, or who risks losing those rights.
Even a Catholic in a Protestant neighborhood might prefer to
be discreet.)
Perhaps Mr. Schmidt actually lives in a glass house, with no
door on his bathroom. And maybe we're all welcome to go
watch. Maybe I'll look up the URL of his EricCam.


| If people don't like the TOS, they can always *buy* email service from an
ISP or web host.

Yes, a lot of people have free email with their ISP and
don't even know it. And it doesn't cost much to have a domain.

But that's also become tricky. First, it doesn't solve the
problem for those of us who need to communicate with
gmail users. Beyond that, many ISPs have subcontracted
to Google, as have many colleges. Some web hosts have
also subcontracted to Google, and some don't offer full
service email. It's not always easy to figure that out ahead
of time. It's often only discoverable by looking at the email
headers, which most people don't know about. It's not clear
whether Google can/does spy on people under a subcontract
deal. I certainly wouldn't trust them.

I had a website with Earthlink for many years. At first they
were good. The service gradually went downhill. I have no idea
what transpired at the company, but I eventually decided to
find a new host. I don't remember the name of the company
that Earthlink subbed out to, but they did it without any
notice to customers. I found out because my email wouldn't go
through to a friend with Verizon email. The company EL was
using was blacklisted!
I know a number of people with ISP or webhosting email that's
been subbed out. Those companies may just find it cheaper than
running their own service, but I wouldn't be surprised if the
subcontractors are selling the personal data and then giving the
ISPs and webhosts a kickback. It's hard to be honest in a
business where people don't want to pay a fair price for anything.
.... That's the tragedy of Google. They made billions running
an hoest business for years. It was a brilliant idea. They had a
great search engine and sold text ads along the side of the page.
It was a perfect business model. It was clean and honest. But then
they got greedy.