Not crossing the creepy line

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At a time when Google, Facebook and its peers are under pressure to explain their role in the National Security Agency’s (NSA) mass surveillance of US citizens and foreign nationals, came a revelation that sent ripples across social media recently.

In what has been widely branded as a ‘stunning admission’, internet giant Google has said in a court filing that people sending email to any of Google’s 425 million Gmail users have no “reasonable expectation” that their communications are confidential.
According to Google: “Just as a sender of a letter to a business colleague cannot be surprised that the recipient’s assistant opens the letter, people who use web-based email today cannot be surprised if their communications are processed by the recipient’s ECS (electronic communications service) provider in the course of delivery.”
A few critics were unhappy about Google’s poor analogy, and compared it to a mail service, saying that they would expect the Post Office to not open their letters and read them but simply deliver to the said address.
Advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, who even stated that Google has finally admitted they don’t respect privacy, brought the fact to light. It has, however, been a case of much ado over nothing.
First of all, Google’s argument isn’t even about Gmail users, who are covered by Google’s unified privacy policy. Google’s argument is about non-Gmail users who haven’t signed Google’s terms of service. It’s right there in black and white — the heading for the section literally starts with the words “The Non-Gmail Plaintiffs.” Then there’s the line, “a person has no legitimate expectation of privacy in information he voluntarily turns over to third parties” which is a quote from the 1979 Supreme Court case Smith v. Maryland, an extremely controversial law. Google’s argument is that people who email Gmail users are necessarily involving Gmail’s servers in the mix, kicking the third-party doctrine into effect. This is pretty basic stuff.
The whole issue started when Google made its point clear in an attempt to dismiss a privacy-related class action lawsuit. Google has responded strongly to these claims. A spokesperson said, “We have built industry-leading security and privacy features into Gmail — and no matter who sends an email to a Gmail user, those protections apply.”
While there’s still no need to hit the panic button, Google can do a better job of communicating and enforcing the steps it takes to protect its customers’ much-needed privacy.