GMail Followup

Despite the fact that I think most of the concerns wrt GMail are overblown there are a couple of ideas that have recently come to my attention that deserve some thought.

What if a company that uses the AdWords service decides to sue Google for breach of contract for failling to provide service in relation to the AdWords presented in the GMail interface.

Say that Company X has proof in the form of a GMail account that contains emails that should see certain AdWords ads display and did not get them. If their lawyer is big enough and smart enough, the entire GMail repository (or at least a sizable reference portion) might be required as evidence for or against. This would make your emails a part of the public record. While I am under no illusions about the 'privacy' of email, the idea that my communications might be a part of the public record without my approval is a sobering thought.

Perhaps I will just use it for mailling lists and website signups afterall.

GMail Musings

Directed to no one in particular because I am seeing more and more people take this stance.

If you don't accept/reply to messages from Gmail your gesture is worth less than the click you didn't take.

Want secure email? Get a cert and encrypt your messages. Only send messages to people on your same server. Make sure no one else has access to the server. Only you. Because as soon as that message leaves your client it is vulnerable to attack.

Now is this likely to occur? Unless you are some sort of leet cracker duude or on some govy watch list or undersurvelllience guess what... Your rantings and "insights" have less value to the BigBrother complex than they do to the poor sap to which they were sent.

Your messages are only valuable as part of a larger statistical model. If you have had an expectation of privacy when dealing with email you have been sadly mistaken.