The Internet is ablaze with reports of a Google lawsuit filing claiming that Gmail users have no expectation of privacy. After all the pixels I’ve spilled lately bloviating about privacy and the misdeeds of large Internet companies, including Google, you’d think that I’d be outraged by this. But actually, my reaction was, “Well duh!”
The folks suing are upset that Google scans their emails to remove malware and, more importantly, to target them with advertisements they may be interested in. Of course. What did they think was happening? It’s not as though Google kept it a secret. In fact, all those Gmail users whining about the scanning of their email specifically consented to it. I know, I know: who reads those click through agreements? But really, how else is Google going to make money to run what is, after all, a large and expensive service? It’s well known that Google’s main business model is targeted advertising and no reasonable person could believe that Gmail was any different.
Those complaining would do well to remember this useful bit of advice about Internet services: If you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product. When you sign up for Gmail you make a bargain with Google: in exchange for a free—and, really, pretty good—email service, Google gets to scan your emails looking for keywords so they can target you with effective advertisements.
Google has plenty of things to answer for; this nonsense isn’t one of them.