Google has responded to accusations that its Gmail
e-mail service may violate users' privacy by expressing a
willingness to be flexible about how it offers the
service.
Gmail, announced on 1 April, will be a free, web-based e-mail
service, similar to Microsoft's MSN Hotmail and Yahoo's Yahoo Mail,
although its 1Gbyte of storage is much more than these other
popular free services offer.
However, Google wants to scan e-mail and add advertisements that
it thinks are relevant to the messages. The Gmail privacy policy
also warns that messages, even if "deleted" by a user, may still be
stored in the system, long after users have closed their account -
something that some privacy campaigners believe may conflict with
data protection and privacy laws on both sides of the Atlantic.
Since the Gmail announcement, Spymac Network has launched a free
online e-mail service that matches the 1Gbyte of storage offered by
Google, but has said it will not do keyword searching and will not
tie ads to the service.
"This is one of the hottest issues we've ever dealt with in
terms of internet issues," said Simon Davies, the director of the
privacy advocate group, Privacy International.
Last week, Privacy International filed a formal complaint with
the U.'s information commissioner office (ICO) requesting that
action be taken against Gmail. California senator Liz Figueroa said
the privacy issues were leading her to consider proposing
legislation to stop Google from launching its Gmail service in its
present form.
In the face of such opposition, Google has given signs that it
may be rethinking how the Gmail service is structured. The service
would require all users to participate in the ad service - that is,
users would have to accept the display of ads and the scanning of
their e-mail messages - but that could change, as could many other
things, since Gmail is in early testing phase.
"Google has the highest regard for the privacy of our users'
information. We have taken great care to architect Gmail to protect
user privacy and to deliver an innovative and useful service. While
we're still in a limited test of Gmail, we welcome and appreciate
feedback on how we can improve the offering for our users," a
Google spokesman said.
The technology that presents users with relevant Gmail ads
operates in the same way as all popular web mail features that
process e-mail content to provide a user benefit, such as spam
filtering or virus detection, he added.
"We are confident that Gmail is fully compliant with data
protection laws worldwide. Google actively solicits user feedback
on our privacy policies. If they can be made clearer or otherwise
improved, we want to hear about it. We look forward to a detailed
dialogue with data protection authorities across Europe to ensure
their concerns are heard and resolved," he said.
A spokeswoman for the ICO said that as long as Google makes the
conditions of its service clear to people when they sign up, the
proposed service should not violate UK data protection laws.
"Google has not even launched the service yet, and has agreed to
work with us to make sure that its notification process is very
clear," she said.
The spokeswoman added that representatives from Google working
with the ICO had been surprised by the reaction to its proposed
e-mail service. "I don't think they thought this was going to be a
problem."
However, Privacy International's Davies was not so happy with
ICO's response.
"I'm a bit angry at the ICO because they've been putting around
the idea that the Gmail service as planned is okay, simply if you
make it clear that they are going to scan and then permanently
store your information: That is not the point. This is about having
rights over your own e-mail and Google is going to have to give you
control over your own e-mail. This is virgin territory," .
Privacy International is concerned that Google is treating a
serious privacy issue purely as a public relations issue and has
vowed to press the matter further if the ICO does not pledge to
gain a series of guarantees and protections from Google for
potential users of Gmail.
"We will be filing simultaneous complaints with the data privacy
regulations of every other European nation on 22 April should we
not receive a satisfactory response from the IOC," Davies said.
"Germany, for example, has much stricter policies regarding
privacy and they wouldn't blink at taking severe action. Sweden, as
well, has shown a willingness to addressed similar issues."
Jeanna Thorslund, senior information officer of Sweden's Data
Inspection Board, said that though the board has not received any
complaints about Gmail, it was aware of the planned e-mail service
and would continue to monitor the situation. Representatives from
data privacy agencies in Germany, the Netherlands and France
could not be reached for comment.
Representatives from the European Commission said that they were
also aware of the proposed Gmail service and were ready to look
into potential legal conflicts should the need arise.
"We are not in an active stance of waiting for complaints about
Gmail and we are not at the moment investigating anything specific
but we will keep an eye on the situation," said commission
spokesman for enterprise and information society issues Peter
Sandler.
Sandler pointed to the "opt-in" directive that was added to the
statute books of the EU member states last October. The measure
puts the onus on companies to obtain permission from individual
users to send them unsolicited commercial e-mail. Additionally,
theoretical issues about confidentiality may also arise with Gmail,
he said.
"There is an obligation of member states to make sure that the
confidentiality of messages are insured. So that could have
implications for companies that are scanning and tracking
information," Sandler said.
Laura Rohde writes for IDG News
Service