By Evan Hansen, 14 April 2004 08:20
NEWS Google said Tuesday it is "batting about" possible changes to its Gmail web-based email service, which launched last month to a chorus of privacy concerns.
The search engine giant unveiled Gmail in late March to about 1,000 people in what it called a limited test. Nevertheless, it immediately produced an uproar over plans to offer web surfers up to 1GB of storage for free, subsidised by advertising based on keywords scanned from messages and delivered over the service.
Google spokesman David Krane said the company plans to listen closely to the responses of test users and other interested parties during a three- to six-month test period. He said Google may make changes based on the recommendations it receives, but it hasn't yet made any definitive decisions.
Krane said: "We are in the very earliest phases of testing, and we are actively soliciting and analysing feedback from users and third parties, including privacy groups. We're definitely batting about a number of options for changes to the service, but we have not yet made any specific commitments or announcements about changes to come to Gmail."
Evan Hansen writes for News.com
Comments
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1. anonymous
Of course no one is forced to subscribe. There are many other email services, free and paid.
If you know the conditions of use before signing up, and still want use the service, then there really isn't a problem.
2. anonymous
That is a very good point -- naive but good. The problem is that Google probably doesn't tell people "Hey, we're going to scan every message you get so we can place targeted ads in your email, and build a dossier about you so that we'll sell to any advertiser for the right price. I know we said we wouldn't, but part of the Terms and Conditions agreement is that we can change the Terms and Conditions without telling you.
All Google tells prospective users is "HEY FREE EMAIL, 1 GIG OF STORAGE". All that other stuff is buried in the EULA, which if people actually read should scare them into running like hell from everybody offering software products. Oh well
3. George
How will the marketing people sell banner ads no one reads, pop ups / unders that people just close or spam that is deleted ?
4. Mark Joffe
I don't know why you think Google is such an evil empire. They have explicitly said that they don't plan on abusing the information--only placing ads in the email based on immediate analysis of content.
SE experts like Kevin Lee and Danny Sullivan have said that there are no privacy concerns with Gmail. Should we believe "anonymous" over them?
5. anonymous
Google. You have a marvellous record so far, DO NOT go and and make a mess of it.Have an Email service but DO NOT get it screwed up with any search or advertising. If you do you will regret it and so will the rest of the world.
6. anonymous
Scanning OUTGOING messages only would solve the problem. That way the only emails being scanned would have been produced by those who KNOW they are being scanned. Frankly I don't care either way because within a week 99% of the email will be SPAM anyway and why would google want to scan that?
7. Eric Cranston
anyone who has a problem with a computer program scanning there email for keywords has issues. THis is not an invasion of privacy at all, Like wut are you afraid of a computer program laughing at you, are you embrassed. It's a freakin lifeless thing, it doesn't think, ni real person reads the email, how is this an invasion of privacy, this is the traditional web idea, we give you a service, if we can spam your screen with ads that you ignore, the only difference is these ads will actually be relate to you
and anyone who has a problem with that needs to be in a mental hosiptal
8. anonymous
Eric, if you are really that naive you will surely be interested in buying the toll-collecting rights to a bridge I know of in Brooklyn---Maryland.