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It’s not just Microsoft: Apple and Google can also read your emails

Published Mar 24th, 2014 1:05PM EDT
Gmail Email Snooping

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People concerned with online privacy had a field day last week when it was discovered that Microsoft accessed a French blogger’s Hotmail account and read his emails in order to assess his involvement with an alleged theft of Windows trade secrets. As numerous reports pointed out, Microsoft’s Hotmail and Outlook.com terms give the company the right to access and read users’ emails, and bloggers lashed out at Microsoft as a result. As it turns out, however, Microsoft isn’t the only tech giant that reserves the right to read your private correspondence.

Alex Hern at The Guardian took the time to actually read the terms we all agree to when we sign up for the various email services offered by big tech companies. Not surprisingly, he found that Apple, Google and Yahoo each include items in their terms of service that give them the right to access and read users’ emails.

As Hern noted, Google’s terms for Gmail require users to “acknowledge and agree that Google may access… your account information and any Content associated with that account… in a good faith belief that such access… is reasonably necessary to… protect against imminent harm to the… property… of Google.”

Similarly, regarding iCloud email Apple’s terms say that it “may, without liability to you, access… your Account information and Content… if we have a good faith belief that such access… is reasonably necessary to… protect the… property… of Apple,” Hern noted, adding that Yahoo mail can also be accessed by Yahoo according to the service’s terms.

Of course most people don’t actually read the terms of service when they sign up for various email solutions, so these things can be a bit of a shock when they come to light.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.