Google responds to privacy concerns by adding a Gmail Privacy Q&A

Google employees also accentuate how seriously Google takes privacy

[ThatAdamGuy]

Google offers up a new document:
[gmail.google.com ]

Google takes your privacy very seriously, and your trust is important to us. That's why we feel it's important to shed some light on what Gmail is - and what it is not.

Google employees (including those I've spoken with) seem surprised and disappointed at the media firestorm, as seen by this blog entry of Evan Williams (founder of Blogger, now Google employee):

It's unfortunate that most people don't read past sensationalistic and misleading headlines. Hopefully this piece will help those who do to actually understand what is going on with Gmail, and that Google is really trying hard on this issue. You wouldn't believe how seriously people in this company take these issues.

* * *

My thoughts on the new document?

1) Obviously late.
2) It features mildly clichéd language ("What it is... and what it is not" {groan}), but is generally accessible and well-written.
3) They seem to have read some of the posts here on WW, responding to some arguments almost verbatim, and using examples/language similar to stuff used here, too. But yeah, I'm biased :D
4) Overall, I think that this document -- along with other intensive measures -- will substantially help re-shape and improve the currently negative press about Gmail.

* * *

I look forward to seeing this thread added to the WW front page under the headline: "Google gets desperate... grabs at straws and flailingly insists that Gmail is fine, it's the newspapers that are the problem!" or "Google attempts to salvage ill-thought-out service by last-ditch-attempt at privacy spin..." :D

[For those not familiar with my pro-Gmail stance, yes, the above paragraph is meant to be tongue-in-cheek ;)]

[Mark_A]

Adam the Gmail terms and conditions are not worth the paper they are not even written on.

edit to insert link
[gmail.google.com...]

To paraphrase from the very beginning

You agree to these terms and any future ammendments we may make to them ..

enough said ..

reading that I am really not sure its not still an april fools joke?

[Chndru]

>>You agree to these terms and any future ammendments we may make to them ..

Have you ever read any TOS without it? Did you try WebmasterWorld TOS?

We reserve the right to modify these Terms of Service from time to time without notice and are retro active.

[webmasterworld.com...]

[ThatAdamGuy]

Yeah, WW's TOS is DoubleBad. They reserve the right to scan all my super-secret incoming and outgoing stickies, steal all the brilliant posts I write and put them into a book, sue me for emotional damages, and more. Er, well, they COULD do that, since their TOS can be revised at any time ;)

But worst of all? They misspelled "retroactive" :D

Edited to add:
Then again, maybe they're referring to particularly energetic terms from the 40's and 50's?

[figment88]

oops - edited out my post cause I missed something.

[edited by: figment88 at 10:01 pm (utc) on April 15, 2004]

[Mark_A]

Unfortunately I find myself unable to discuss these issues here further for the time being.

Please stick to the details of the issues folks, in my opinion they do matter.

Have a nice evening.