Complaint: Google Inc – Gmail email service. Gmail service does not fulfill a range of conditions under data p

Gmail email service.Gmail service does not fulfill a range of conditions under data protection law.


I am writing this because my Gmail email account has been closed since March 16, 2008 without my knowledge and consent. I am writing with regard to the Web mail service that was established at an International level by Google Inc, a US based company that operates the world’s most popular Internet search engine.





The issues I raise in this complaint are the scale and functionality of the Gmail service that poses a heightened level of threat to the rights of individuals and to the security and privacy of communications. At a more general level, the service – like others of its type operating in the US where there is an absence of equivalent legal protections – appears to violate EU data protection law.





Security of data





Under Section VIII article 17 of the EU Data Protection Directive a data controller must take full responsibility and accept liability for the security of personal information. This applies equally when the data is processed outside the EU. However, the Gmail Terms of Use state:


Google disclaims all responsibility and liability for the availability, timeliness, security or reliability of the Service. This is an unacceptable condition. Security must be accorded considerably greater weight within the contract.





Interception and disclosure of content





The privacy of the content of communications must be assured, and any violation of privacy must be subject to due process. However, the Gmail contract states:


Google reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to investigate your use of the Service in order to determine whether a violation of the Agreement has occurred or to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request.





This condition, invites abuses. More attention to detail is necessary. The word “request” implies a potential for omission of the due process that would be required in the EU and in many other countries.


Some clarification is offered in the following clause:


Google may monitor, edit or disclose your personal information, including the content of your emails, if required to do so in order to comply with any valid legal process or governmental request (such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order), or as otherwise provided in these Terms of Use and the Gmail Privacy Policy.


Note the use of the conjunctive “or”. The word “request” remains undefined. The conditions imposed by US legislation such as the PATRIOT Act could provide a range of opportunities for US agencies to seize content without judicial authority.





Additional concerns arise from the following conditions:


Google also reserves the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any information as it reasonably believes is necessary to (a) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, (b) enforce this Agreement, including investigation of potential violations hereof, (c) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues (including, without limitation, the filtering of spam), (d) respond to user support requests, or (e) protect the rights, property or safety of Google, its users and the public.


Google will not be responsible or liable for the exercise or non-exercise of its rights under this Agreement.





This sweeping condition should be contrasted with the view of the Article 29 group:


The content of e-mail has to be kept secret and must not be read either by any intermediary or by the Mail Service Provider, even for so called “network security purposes”.


As noted by the Article 29 Group in its guidelines on privacy %26amp; the Internet:


The confidentiality of communications is protected by Article 5 of Directive 97/66/EC. Under this provision, no third party should be allowed to read the contents of e-mail between two parties.





The Article 29 Group provided further elaboration on the question of email


interception:


The Article 29 Working Party has dealt with the privacy aspects of


interception of communications in its recommendation 2/9956. In this


recommendation, the Working Party points out that each interception of


telecommunications, defined as a third party acquiring knowledge of the


content and/or traffic data relating to private telecommunications between two


or more correspondents, and in particular of traffic data concerning the use of


telecommunications services, constitutes a violation of an individual’s right to


privacy and of the confidentiality of correspondence. It follows that


interceptions are unacceptable unless they fulfill three fundamental criteria, in


accordance with Article 8 (2) of the European Convention for the Protection


of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 195057, and the


European Court of Human Rights’ interpretation of this provision: a legal


basis, the need for such a measure in a democratic society, and conformity


with one of the legitimate aims listed in the Convention.


And:


Everyone has the right to send a mail to everybody else without that mail


being read by a third party. Article 5 of Directive 97/66/EC, which covers


communications and related traffic data for example sent by e-mail, lays down


obligations as to the confidentiality of communications. In addition to these


obligations, Article 4 of the same directive obliges the providers of


telecommunications services to take appropriate technical and organisational


measures to safeguard the security of their services and to inform users about a


particular risk of a breach of security and any possible remedies, including the costs involved. The Gmail Terms of Use do not recognise these fundamental rights and conditions, nor do the terms set specific parameters for the reading or interception of email content.





Subject control over data





Data Protection law ensures that an individual will have the ability to control her own data. Given the extremely valuable and extensive reserve of communications data that Google wishes its target customers to amass, the following conditions (while not unusual) are unacceptable:


Google may at any time and for any reason terminate the Services, terminate this Agreement, or suspend or terminate your account. In the event of termination, your account will be disabled and you may not be granted access to your account or any files or other content contained in your account although residual copies of information may remain in our system.





Conclusion


I believe the Gmail service involves significant and far-reaching privacy implications. The precedent set by the service; its enhanced functionality and the likelihood of unexpected future changes to the system require serious consideration of data protection issues. I urge everybody of you who reads this, to prospectively investigate this system with a view to establishing appropriate privacy safeguards.

Complaint: Google Inc – Gmail email service. Gmail service does not fulfill a range of conditions under data p
And your question is what exactly???





If you don't like the service...delete your account...simple...it's a freemarket economy...take your business elsewhere...not like you paid for gmail anyway...





Oh and your legalese is way off...sounds amateurish...
Reply:I'm not going to read all that, but in general the disclaimer they have included in the terms of service will override any objections.
Reply:if you signup from blacklisted ip you can have such problems.

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