Who is watching your e-mails?

[subaqua]

And you will be surprised at the amount that use google mail as the provider. Virgin do. So even if sent from outlook it is handled by google.

Not that I am bothered by crawlers

 

[andyfraser]

If you don't pay for the product... YOU are the product. I don't use Gmail anymore, and am moving away from Google services generally.

We get a lot free online and I'm happy to look at ads or have ads present to keep good sites and services free. Google Now is really useful and I don't do anything online that I want to hide so Google are welcome to look at my stuff if it means I get good and useful services.

If a site of service shows ads that are too intrusive I'll stop using their site or service and tell them why. I do hate spam though. I think Google have the balance about right.

 

[Donger]

Ahhh! ...... So that's why I keep being offered cheap gimp masks!

 

[John the Monkey]

I occasionally chunk in random words like "kill Obama ECHELON compromised security breaches" and other than being followed everywhere by a Reaper drone nothing untoward has happened.

I bet them Fox news recruitment ads are rolling in, mind.

 

[dst87]

We get a lot free online and I'm happy to look at ads or have ads present to keep good sites and services free. Google Now is really useful and I don't do anything online that I want to hide so Google are welcome to look at my stuff if it means I get good and useful services.

If a site of service shows ads that are too intrusive I'll stop using their site or service and tell them why. I do hate spam though. I think Google have the balance about right.

Totally - Google offer some exceptionally good products for 'free'. And I don't think Google's ads are at all intrusive, and I don't really mind seeing ads.

I used to subscribe to the 'I've nothing to hide' way of thinking, but less and less so now. My current mail provider is based in Australia which has pretty good privacy laws around email. I just like the idea that private emails are, as best as I can manage, private.

 

[mybike]

Email is plain text, sent in the clear. You don't know what servers it goes through nor who can read it. It is insecure.

 

[andyfraser]

Totally - Google offer some exceptionally good products for 'free'. And I don't think Google's ads are at all intrusive, and I don't really mind seeing ads.

I used to subscribe to the 'I've nothing to hide' way of thinking, but less and less so now. My current mail provider is based in Australia which has pretty good privacy laws around email. I just like the idea that private emails are, as best as I can manage, private.

I'm not advocating giving away my privacy and don't go for the "if you having nothing to hide..." argument. As long as it's only Google's systems looking at my stuff that's fine. That's the trade off for using Gmail, Google Now, etc. If they start giving my emails to third parties I'll be off.

Edit: added a 'not' so it doesn't sound like I'm trying to give my privacy away.

 

[snorri]

Ahhh! ...... So that's why I keep being offered cheap gimp masks!

When they start to offer you the expensive ones you really should take stock of your activities

 

[andyfraser]

Email is plain text, sent in the clear. You don't know what servers it goes through nor who can read it. It is insecure.

That's a common discussion on the Security Now podcast. There's not much that can be done really either. PGP can help. Services like Gmail and MS's Outlook.com use end to end encryption between our browsers or email clients and their servers so Gmail to Gmail or Outlook.com to Outlook.com should be encrypted in transit but is probably stored in the clear on the server.

 

[classic33]

I occasionally chunk in random words like "kill Obama ECHELON compromised security breaches" and other than being followed everywhere by a Reaper drone nothing untoward has happened.

I've a drone?

 

[mybike]

That's a common discussion on the Security Now podcast. There's not much that can be done really either. PGP can help. Services like Gmail and MS's Outlook.com use end to end encryption between our browsers or email clients and their servers so Gmail to Gmail or Outlook.com to Outlook.com should be encrypted in transit but is probably stored in the clear on the server.

Ah, another SN fan.

 

[andyfraser]

Ah, another SN fan.

Yep. Been listening to Steve and Leo since the start.

 

[machew]

Are you sure you dont have a BOFH at work?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/08/bofh_2013_episode_10/

 

[Drago]

It's all carp anyway. You all know the electronic automated monitoring system, ECHELON? Well, behind it is an agreement involving the USA, UK, NZ and a few others. The laws are restrictive with regards spying on their own citizens, so to circumvent the laws they spy on each others instead and share anything useful or interesting.

 

[the_mikey]

Email is not secure, nothing sent by email is encrypted unless you have encrypted the contents into a file attachment or performed some kind of obfuscation or cryptography to the plain text.