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Gmail users - be careful
Went to get some info on Gmail and came across the following thread in the
Gmail discussion group at Yahoo: http://tinyurl.com/hofoe Definitely gives me second thoughts about subscribing. I think I'll just stick with Cox and Yahoo. I also came across this line in the info section on Gmail: "There are no pop-ups or untargeted banner ads in Gmail, only small text ads. Ads and related information are relevant to your messages, so instead of being obtrusive, they may even be useful for once." In order to target the 'ads and related information' it would seem as though something is paying more attention to messages than I would desire. http://mail.google.com/mail/help/about.html Any thoughts? |
Gmail users - be careful
JohnH wrote:
Went to get some info on Gmail and came across the following thread in the Gmail discussion group at Yahoo: http://tinyurl.com/hofoe Definitely gives me second thoughts about subscribing. I think I'll just stick with Cox and Yahoo. I also came across this line in the info section on Gmail: "There are no pop-ups or untargeted banner ads in Gmail, only small text ads. Ads and related information are relevant to your messages, so instead of being obtrusive, they may even be useful for once." In order to target the 'ads and related information' it would seem as though something is paying more attention to messages than I would desire. http://mail.google.com/mail/help/about.html Any thoughts? I have no issues with them so long as they declare upfront what the price of the free service is. The mail gets machine scanned for key words & the side ads are targeted accordingly?? Most mail is pretty innocuous, family, friends etc however I don't think I'd conduct actual "business" via gmail, although spoofed addresses etc are a risk on other mail systems also. If it really is an issue; then ask for your money back & don't use it They do offer a safe repository for my stuff once it's in an attached zipped tarball. Google are about the only ones at least trying to offer alternatives to MS based stuff so I support them. K |
Gmail users - be careful
"JohnH" wrote in message
... Went to get some info on Gmail and came across the following thread in the Gmail discussion group at Yahoo: http://tinyurl.com/hofoe Definitely gives me second thoughts about subscribing. I think I'll just stick with Cox and Yahoo. I also came across this line in the info section on Gmail: "There are no pop-ups or untargeted banner ads in Gmail, only small text ads. Ads and related information are relevant to your messages, so instead of being obtrusive, they may even be useful for once." In order to target the 'ads and related information' it would seem as though something is paying more attention to messages than I would desire. http://mail.google.com/mail/help/about.html Any thoughts? Gmail comes from the same company that gave us Google desktop, which carried some major security risks. You have to be pretty flaky to use any product from Google other than their basic search engine. February 09, 2006 Google Copies Your Hard Drive - Government Smiles in Anticipation Consumers Should Not Use New Google Desktop San Francisco - Google today announced a new "feature" of its Google Desktop software that greatly increases the risk to consumer privacy. If a consumer chooses to use it, the new "Search Across Computers" feature will store copies of the user's Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and other text-based documents on Google's own servers, to enable searching from any one of the user's computers. EFF urges consumers not to use this feature, because it will make their personal data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the government and possibly private litigants, while providing a convenient one-stop-shop for hackers who've obtained a user's Google password. "Coming on the heels of serious consumer concern about government snooping into Google's search logs, it's shocking that Google expects its users to now trust it with the contents of their personal computers," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "If you use the Search Across Computers feature and don't configure Google Desktop very carefully-and most people won't-Google will have copies of your tax returns, love letters, business records, financial and medical files, and whatever other text-based documents the Desktop software can index. The government could then demand these personal files with only a subpoena rather than the search warrant it would need to seize the same things from your home or business, and in many cases you wouldn't even be notified in time to challenge it. Other litigants-your spouse, your business partners or rivals, whoever-could also try to cut out the middleman (you) and subpoena Google for your files." The privacy problem arises because the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986, or ECPA, gives only limited privacy protection to emails and other files that are stored with online service providers-much less privacy than the legal protections for the same information when it's on your computer at home. And even that lower level of legal protection could disappear if Google uses your data for marketing purposes. Google says it is not yet scanning the files it copies from your hard drive in order to serve targeted advertising, but it hasn't ruled out the possibility, and Google's current privacy policy appears to allow it. "This Google product highlights a key privacy problem in the digital age," said Cindy Cohn, EFF's Legal Director. "Many Internet innovations involve storing personal files on a service provider's computer, but under outdated laws, consumers who want to use these new technologies have to surrender their privacy rights. If Google wants consumers to trust it to store copies of personal computer files, emails, search histories and chat logs, and still 'not be evil,' it should stand with EFF and demand that Congress update the privacy laws to better reflect life in the wired world." For more on Google's data collection: http://news.com.com/FAQ+When+Google+...66.html?tag=nl http://www.boston.com/news/nation/ar..._roils_the_web http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...DGEPGPHA61.DTL http://news.com.com/%20Bill+would+fo...3-6036951.html Contact: Kevin Bankston Staff Attorney Electronic Frontier Foundation Posted at 11:04 AM |
Gmail users - be careful
JohnH writes:
http://tinyurl.com/hofoe Definitely gives me second thoughts about subscribing. I think I'll just stick with Cox and Yahoo. You're confused. Any email address can be spoofed. This has nothing to do with Gmail. It can happen with any compliant mail server, including the alternatives you mention. It is in the nature of the Internet email standards. *Nothing* in an email message (neither body nor headers) can be trusted except the topmost "Received:" header and the "From" timestamp (*not* the "From" email address, nor the "From:" header).. |
Gmail users - be careful
JohnH wrote:
Went to get some info on Gmail and came across the following thread in the Gmail discussion group at Yahoo: http://tinyurl.com/hofoe Definitely gives me second thoughts about subscribing. I think I'll just stick with Cox and Yahoo. I also came across this line in the info section on Gmail: "There are no pop-ups or untargeted banner ads in Gmail, only small text ads. Ads and related information are relevant to your messages, so instead of being obtrusive, they may even be useful for once." In order to target the 'ads and related information' it would seem as though something is paying more attention to messages than I would desire. http://mail.google.com/mail/help/about.html Any thoughts? You should not treat any unencrypted email you send or receive as if it was any more private than a postcard. Whatever provider you use. It's not that my tinfoil hat is too tight today, I administer email here at work - believe my t-shirt that says "I read your email" As for google, some of the text ads are absolutely hilarious. My friend and I were discussing a possible new Nasa mission to Earth's sister planet when the ad offered me "Best Prices on Hotels in Venus". As for spoofed spams, I get about 1000 bounces a day of spams spoofed from the business domain. Every domain owner in the world does (if you don't have a collect-all postmaster type account they just turn to digital dust). That doesn't send up alarm bells either. |
Gmail users - be careful
I've had Google for a while, and I haven't experianced any of those
types of problems. I can pretty well detect SPAM seeing that I don't really get much mail from there anyhow. . and if I saw that I sent one to myself, I wouldn't open it . I'd junk it. JoeSpareBedroom wrote: "JohnH" wrote in message ... Went to get some info on Gmail and came across the following thread in the Gmail discussion group at Yahoo: http://tinyurl.com/hofoe Definitely gives me second thoughts about subscribing. I think I'll just stick with Cox and Yahoo. I also came across this line in the info section on Gmail: "There are no pop-ups or untargeted banner ads in Gmail, only small text ads. Ads and related information are relevant to your messages, so instead of being obtrusive, they may even be useful for once." In order to target the 'ads and related information' it would seem as though something is paying more attention to messages than I would desire. http://mail.google.com/mail/help/about.html Any thoughts? Gmail comes from the same company that gave us Google desktop, which carried some major security risks. You have to be pretty flaky to use any product from Google other than their basic search engine. February 09, 2006 Google Copies Your Hard Drive - Government Smiles in Anticipation Consumers Should Not Use New Google Desktop San Francisco - Google today announced a new "feature" of its Google Desktop software that greatly increases the risk to consumer privacy. If a consumer chooses to use it, the new "Search Across Computers" feature will store copies of the user's Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and other text-based documents on Google's own servers, to enable searching from any one of the user's computers. EFF urges consumers not to use this feature, because it will make their personal data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the government and possibly private litigants, while providing a convenient one-stop-shop for hackers who've obtained a user's Google password. "Coming on the heels of serious consumer concern about government snooping into Google's search logs, it's shocking that Google expects its users to now trust it with the contents of their personal computers," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "If you use the Search Across Computers feature and don't configure Google Desktop very carefully-and most people won't-Google will have copies of your tax returns, love letters, business records, financial and medical files, and whatever other text-based documents the Desktop software can index. The government could then demand these personal files with only a subpoena rather than the search warrant it would need to seize the same things from your home or business, and in many cases you wouldn't even be notified in time to challenge it. Other litigants-your spouse, your business partners or rivals, whoever-could also try to cut out the middleman (you) and subpoena Google for your files." The privacy problem arises because the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986, or ECPA, gives only limited privacy protection to emails and other files that are stored with online service providers-much less privacy than the legal protections for the same information when it's on your computer at home. And even that lower level of legal protection could disappear if Google uses your data for marketing purposes. Google says it is not yet scanning the files it copies from your hard drive in order to serve targeted advertising, but it hasn't ruled out the possibility, and Google's current privacy policy appears to allow it. "This Google product highlights a key privacy problem in the digital age," said Cindy Cohn, EFF's Legal Director. "Many Internet innovations involve storing personal files on a service provider's computer, but under outdated laws, consumers who want to use these new technologies have to surrender their privacy rights. If Google wants consumers to trust it to store copies of personal computer files, emails, search histories and chat logs, and still 'not be evil,' it should stand with EFF and demand that Congress update the privacy laws to better reflect life in the wired world." For more on Google's data collection: http://news.com.com/FAQ+When+Google+...66.html?tag=nl http://www.boston.com/news/nation/ar..._roils_the_web http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...DGEPGPHA61.DTL http://news.com.com/%20Bill+would+fo...3-6036951.html Contact: Kevin Bankston Staff Attorney Electronic Frontier Foundation Posted at 11:04 AM |
Gmail users - be careful
wrote in message
ups.com... I've had Google for a while, and I haven't experianced any of those types of problems. I can pretty well detect SPAM seeing that I don't really get much mail from there anyhow. . and if I saw that I sent one to myself, I wouldn't open it . I'd junk it. You've had Google WHAT? Which product are you referring to? |
Gmail users - be careful
pardon me, "G-mail"
JoeSpareBedroom wrote: wrote in message ups.com... I've had Google for a while, and I haven't experianced any of those types of problems. I can pretty well detect SPAM seeing that I don't really get much mail from there anyhow. . and if I saw that I sent one to myself, I wouldn't open it . I'd junk it. You've had Google WHAT? Which product are you referring to? |
Gmail users - be careful
wrote in message
ps.com... JoeSpareBedroom wrote: wrote in message ups.com... I've had Google for a while, and I haven't experianced any of those types of problems. I can pretty well detect SPAM seeing that I don't really get much mail from there anyhow. . and if I saw that I sent one to myself, I wouldn't open it . I'd junk it. You've had Google WHAT? Which product are you referring to? pardon me, "G-mail" Well, I think it's odd that a for-profit company uses the content of your email to generate income. All email is potentially subject to surveillance, but Google's routine is odd, to say the least. I wonder how many people don't even notice. |
Gmail users - be careful
On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:16:54 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote: wrote in message ups.com... JoeSpareBedroom wrote: wrote in message ups.com... I've had Google for a while, and I haven't experianced any of those types of problems. I can pretty well detect SPAM seeing that I don't really get much mail from there anyhow. . and if I saw that I sent one to myself, I wouldn't open it . I'd junk it. You've had Google WHAT? Which product are you referring to? pardon me, "G-mail" Well, I think it's odd that a for-profit company uses the content of your email to generate income. All email is potentially subject to surveillance, but Google's routine is odd, to say the least. I wonder how many people don't even notice. That was the point of my original post. I agree with all the folks that say email is subject to being intercepted, read, etc. But, I don't know of any email providers who scan every message looking for key words which will be used for targeted advertising (or for anything else the company wishes). Thanks, but no thanks. -- John H ****************************************** ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** ****************************************** |
Gmail users - be careful
"JohnH" wrote in message ... On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:16:54 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote: wrote in message oups.com... JoeSpareBedroom wrote: wrote in message ups.com... I've had Google for a while, and I haven't experianced any of those types of problems. I can pretty well detect SPAM seeing that I don't really get much mail from there anyhow. . and if I saw that I sent one to myself, I wouldn't open it . I'd junk it. You've had Google WHAT? Which product are you referring to? pardon me, "G-mail" Well, I think it's odd that a for-profit company uses the content of your email to generate income. All email is potentially subject to surveillance, but Google's routine is odd, to say the least. I wonder how many people don't even notice. That was the point of my original post. I agree with all the folks that say email is subject to being intercepted, read, etc. But, I don't know of any email providers who scan every message looking for key words which will be used for targeted advertising (or for anything else the company wishes). Thanks, but no thanks. -- John H The whole thing makes me wonder why we ever did away with the pillory and rotten vegetables as a form of public punishment. -- "In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination." - Mark Twain |
Gmail users - be careful
On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:53:26 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote: "JohnH" wrote in message .. . On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:16:54 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote: wrote in message roups.com... JoeSpareBedroom wrote: wrote in message ups.com... I've had Google for a while, and I haven't experianced any of those types of problems. I can pretty well detect SPAM seeing that I don't really get much mail from there anyhow. . and if I saw that I sent one to myself, I wouldn't open it . I'd junk it. You've had Google WHAT? Which product are you referring to? pardon me, "G-mail" Well, I think it's odd that a for-profit company uses the content of your email to generate income. All email is potentially subject to surveillance, but Google's routine is odd, to say the least. I wonder how many people don't even notice. That was the point of my original post. I agree with all the folks that say email is subject to being intercepted, read, etc. But, I don't know of any email providers who scan every message looking for key words which will be used for targeted advertising (or for anything else the company wishes). Thanks, but no thanks. -- John H The whole thing makes me wonder why we ever did away with the pillory and rotten vegetables as a form of public punishment. While living on the farm, as kids, my brothers and I would walk up to the Nesbitts farm. For some reason, many of their chickens would lay eggs in the hayloft of their huge barn. The eggs would get abandoned (or the chickens eaten 'cause they weren't laying eggs in the hen house) and we'd find nests with a dozen or so eggs therein. Mind you, these eggs were rotten, for the most part. We would then use the eggs for an egg fight in the barn. Rotten vegetables wouldn't hold a candle to rotten eggs when it comes to throwing things at those in a pillory. I think we should do it for lane changers on I-95! -- John H ****************************************** ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** ****************************************** |
Gmail users - be careful
On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 11:09:55 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote: JohnH wrote: On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:16:54 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote: wrote in message ps.com... JoeSpareBedroom wrote: wrote in message ups.com... I've had Google for a while, and I haven't experianced any of those types of problems. I can pretty well detect SPAM seeing that I don't really get much mail from there anyhow. . and if I saw that I sent one to myself, I wouldn't open it . I'd junk it. You've had Google WHAT? Which product are you referring to? pardon me, "G-mail" Well, I think it's odd that a for-profit company uses the content of your email to generate income. All email is potentially subject to surveillance, but Google's routine is odd, to say the least. I wonder how many people don't even notice. That was the point of my original post. I agree with all the folks that say email is subject to being intercepted, read, etc. But, I don't know of any email providers who scan every message looking for key words which will be used for targeted advertising (or for anything else the company wishes). Thanks, but no thanks. -- John H ****************************************** ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** ****************************************** The NSA does it for them. Answered in a.politics. -- John H ****************************************** ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** ****************************************** |
Gmail users - be careful
JohnH wrote:
On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:16:54 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote: wrote in message ps.com... JoeSpareBedroom wrote: wrote in message ups.com... I've had Google for a while, and I haven't experianced any of those types of problems. I can pretty well detect SPAM seeing that I don't really get much mail from there anyhow. . and if I saw that I sent one to myself, I wouldn't open it . I'd junk it. You've had Google WHAT? Which product are you referring to? pardon me, "G-mail" Well, I think it's odd that a for-profit company uses the content of your email to generate income. All email is potentially subject to surveillance, but Google's routine is odd, to say the least. I wonder how many people don't even notice. That was the point of my original post. I agree with all the folks that say email is subject to being intercepted, read, etc. But, I don't know of any email providers who scan every message looking for key words which will be used for targeted advertising (or for anything else the company wishes). Thanks, but no thanks. -- John H ****************************************** ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** ****************************************** Try sending yourself some email to yahoo and hotmail with key words and see if you dont see more of the same kind of ads. |
Gmail users - be careful
Actually John, I've found G-mails SPAM filter to be pretty good. If
somebody reports spam to gmail, it's automatic spam, and gets thrown into the spam file. My gmail spam file catch's anywhere from 5-20 SPAMS a day, and will hold them there for 30 days before automatic deletion. and yoyu can open up the SPAM file to see whats in there and will tell you from whom it came. Just in case something got caught that you didn't want to. I think it's kind of neat. I haven't had any problems with it. JohnH wrote: On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:16:54 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote: wrote in message ups.com... JoeSpareBedroom wrote: wrote in message ups.com... I've had Google for a while, and I haven't experianced any of those types of problems. I can pretty well detect SPAM seeing that I don't really get much mail from there anyhow. . and if I saw that I sent one to myself, I wouldn't open it . I'd junk it. You've had Google WHAT? Which product are you referring to? pardon me, "G-mail" Well, I think it's odd that a for-profit company uses the content of your email to generate income. All email is potentially subject to surveillance, but Google's routine is odd, to say the least. I wonder how many people don't even notice. That was the point of my original post. I agree with all the folks that say email is subject to being intercepted, read, etc. But, I don't know of any email providers who scan every message looking for key words which will be used for targeted advertising (or for anything else the company wishes). Thanks, but no thanks. -- John H ****************************************** ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** ****************************************** |
Gmail users - be careful
The issue really isn't spam. It's the fact that gmail scans your email and
sticks ads on the page based on what it sees in your messages. This is a clever way of getting around the fact that many people block all cookies, except from sites that really need them, like banking & shopping sites where you WANT to be recognized. wrote in message ps.com... Actually John, I've found G-mails SPAM filter to be pretty good. If somebody reports spam to gmail, it's automatic spam, and gets thrown into the spam file. My gmail spam file catch's anywhere from 5-20 SPAMS a day, and will hold them there for 30 days before automatic deletion. and yoyu can open up the SPAM file to see whats in there and will tell you from whom it came. Just in case something got caught that you didn't want to. I think it's kind of neat. I haven't had any problems with it. JohnH wrote: On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:16:54 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote: wrote in message ups.com... JoeSpareBedroom wrote: wrote in message ups.com... I've had Google for a while, and I haven't experianced any of those types of problems. I can pretty well detect SPAM seeing that I don't really get much mail from there anyhow. . and if I saw that I sent one to myself, I wouldn't open it . I'd junk it. You've had Google WHAT? Which product are you referring to? pardon me, "G-mail" Well, I think it's odd that a for-profit company uses the content of your email to generate income. All email is potentially subject to surveillance, but Google's routine is odd, to say the least. I wonder how many people don't even notice. That was the point of my original post. I agree with all the folks that say email is subject to being intercepted, read, etc. But, I don't know of any email providers who scan every message looking for key words which will be used for targeted advertising (or for anything else the company wishes). Thanks, but no thanks. -- John H ****************************************** ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** ****************************************** |
Gmail users - be careful
On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:53:08 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote: JohnH wrote: On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:16:54 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote: wrote in message ps.com... JoeSpareBedroom wrote: wrote in message ups.com... I've had Google for a while, and I haven't experianced any of those types of problems. I can pretty well detect SPAM seeing that I don't really get much mail from there anyhow. . and if I saw that I sent one to myself, I wouldn't open it . I'd junk it. You've had Google WHAT? Which product are you referring to? pardon me, "G-mail" Well, I think it's odd that a for-profit company uses the content of your email to generate income. All email is potentially subject to surveillance, but Google's routine is odd, to say the least. I wonder how many people don't even notice. That was the point of my original post. I agree with all the folks that say email is subject to being intercepted, read, etc. But, I don't know of any email providers who scan every message looking for key words which will be used for targeted advertising (or for anything else the company wishes). Thanks, but no thanks. -- John H ****************************************** ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** ****************************************** Try sending yourself some email to yahoo and hotmail with key words and see if you dont see more of the same kind of ads. Nope, nothing close. Real estate ads and hairspray. I wrote about motorcycles and cameras. Besides, Yahoo is only for this group -- John H ****************************************** ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** ****************************************** |
Gmail users - be careful
|
Gmail users - be careful
"Harry Krause" wrote in message
... JoeSpareBedroom wrote: The issue really isn't spam. It's the fact that gmail scans your email and sticks ads on the page based on what it sees in your messages. This is a clever way of getting around the fact that many people block all cookies, except from sites that really need them, like banking & shopping sites where you WANT to be recognized. So, if you email someone about terrorism, you get ads for exploding vests? Cool. And, you get info about a competition for people who like to shoot guns in the air for no special reason. Mostly terrorists, and toothless guys from Kentucky. |
Gmail users - be careful
On Fri, 16 Jun 2006 15:20:49 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote: JoeSpareBedroom wrote: The issue really isn't spam. It's the fact that gmail scans your email and sticks ads on the page based on what it sees in your messages. This is a clever way of getting around the fact that many people block all cookies, except from sites that really need them, like banking & shopping sites where you WANT to be recognized. So, if you email someone about terrorism, you get ads for exploding vests? Cool. Send yourself an email and find out. -- John H ****************************************** ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** ****************************************** |
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