Gmail users should not expect privacy, says Google in court filing
In stunning admission, tech giant makes claim in court filing to head off class-action lawsuit
Consumer Watchdog, the advocacy group that uncovered the filing, called the revelation a "stunning admission". It comes as Google and its peers are under pressure to explain their role in the National Security Agency's mass surveillance of US citizens and foreign nationals.
"Google has finally admitted they don't respect privacy," said John Simpson, Consumer Watchdog's privacy project director. "People should take them at their word; if you care about your e-mail correspondents' privacy, don't use Gmail."
Google set out its case last month in a bid to dismiss a class-action lawsuit accusing the tech giant of breaking wiretap laws when it scans e-mails to target advertisements to Gmail users.
That suit, filed in May, claims Google "unlawfully opens up, reads, and acquires the content of people's private e-mail messages". It quotes Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman: "Google policy is to get right up to the creepy line and not cross it."
"Unbeknown to millions of people, on a daily basis and for years, Google has systematically and intentionally crossed the 'creepy line' to read private e-mail messages containing information you don't want anyone to know, and to acquire, collect, or mine valuable information from that mail," the suit claims.