Thread by @axbom

Does Google/Alphabet scan your messages in Gmail for showing targeted ads? No.

Does Google/Alphabet scan your messages in Gmail for other purposes? Yes.

Are there other risks with Gmail? Yes.

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The notion 'Gmail scans your e-mails to show ads' is still often being repeated as truth in articles and other reporting, even as Google announced in June 2017 that Consumer Gmail content would no longer be used or scanned for any ads personalisation.

wired.co.uk/article/google…

This allows Google to appear benevolent when talking about Gmail in these terms, as CEO Sundar Pichai did earlier this week when stating: "We don't use data from Gmail for ads, Congressman".

But make no mistake in understanding that the content in your Gmail (as well as Gsuite) accounts are scanned for other purposes. Depending on your settings this could be to suggest replies, remind you to reply, or to understand who your priority contacts are (for notifications).

Of course, some reasons will be more legitimate than others: Gmail will scan for spam (as most e-mail services do) and if you have rules set up (such as "set this tag if the e-mail contains this word") then scanning is of course vital. And attachments are scanned for viruses.

Here's a CNet article describing what you can and can't turn off:

cnet.com/news/the-new-g…

But something many fail to consider is that a huge Gmail security issue is often when users themselves (yes, you) give access to third party apps to read all your e-mail (e-mail clients, meeting managers, subscription services and more) thus exposing all e-mail to more companies.

Google provides this blog post to address how careful you need to be in allowing access for third-party applications. Unfortunately I don't believe this is enough for the most users. (Why would my e-mail service allow this if it wasn't safe?)

blog.google/technology/saf…

Once you grant that third-party access, pretty much anything can happen with your e-mail. That's why it's imperative that you know what will be done with it, and that you do trust the 3rd party.

abc.net.au/news/2018-07-0…

Even privacy-focused e-mail clients that people use to access and manage Gmail are sometimes caught selling your 'anonymized' data to corporate giants in the finance, travel and e-commerce sectors:

digitaltrends.com/mobile/third-p…

In 2017 it was found out that the third-party app unroll.me (for managing newsletter subscriptions) were not only selling personal data to Uber, but also downloading and storing e-mails beyond the owners' reach.

Let's agree Google aren't warning you enough about these risks, and that you may, right now this minute, want to visit this link to see what third party apps currently have access to your Google account (not just Gmail):

myaccount.google.com/permissions

In fact, you may want to visit myaccount.google.com on the regular to consider, and manage, what Google knows about you, what you are sharing with who, where you are logged in and what third party apps (and companies) can see all your data.

When it comes to your content, your best bet is to consider your trust for parties you store it with and if it's transparent what happens to it (and how easy that info is to understand). Understanding what governmental agencies can request your data may be relevant as well.

And for broader ethical decision-making, you may want to go further and understand the underlying business model and workings of the companies you support by placing your data with them.

eff.org/deeplinks/2020…

Here's a good walk-through of how to delete some of the data Google is indefinitely storing about you.

cnet.com/how-to/google-…