Google explains Gmail privacy after controversy | Hacker News Reader

Google explains Gmail privacy after controversy

cnet.com

4 pointsbenryon9 comments

When people signed up for Google, the expectation was for Google (at worst) to have access to email content. But divvying up personal email to third parties shouldn't have been so much as a thought at Google, let alone an API!

Everyone knows no body reads TOS. This is a beach of trust in Google's part

They don't "divvy up personal emails", you do, by clicking the "allow" button under an explicit permission screen (https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-uniblog-publish-prod/ima...).

And you might give that access for reasons you deem useful, like CRMs and what not.

Are people really not getting this? because I'm starting to think that this is an elaborate prank on my expense.

People perfectly get this. When Google is used as an auth provider, people get accustomed to robo-clicking the "allow" button.

While there are legit use cases to grant permission to emails, many 3rd parties rely on you robo-allowing them access. It's Google's duty to protect users from such apps

Who says they don't? they've listed the ways in the linked blogpost:

https://www.blog.google/technology/safety-security/ensuring-..., https://support.google.com/a/answer/7281227?hl=en, https://support.google.com/googleapi/answer/7394288#ensure-a..., https://developers.google.com/terms/api-services-user-data-p...

Certain people have determined to catch google in the wrong here even if that isn't the case so they are conveniently framing the situation and omitting key details.

Not to mention that having the user abdicate all responsibility to their actions in any situation is infantilizing and stupid.

1. You appear to be a Google employee, or a huge Google fanboy. Either is fine with me, but I hope you see your pro-Google bias.

2. In general, I'm defensive of Google, against all the unreasonable shite hurled at them. However, I stand my ground on email access to 3rd parties. My mom, your mom, your grandad, etc. aren't reading through legalese & Google blog/support. As the world's largest internet company, people expect Google to prevent these vulnerable people from being exploited.

3. Even the tech savvy rarely read TOS, especially on trusted sites like Google. They just expect Google to do the right thing.

The only controversy here is that of shoddy (and malicious) reporting.

It appears to me that Google’s blog post admits guilt of the accusations. No?

What's the accusation? that they provide an API?

Fair enough. You have a point. But, that is active and explicit permission-giving.

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