A reader contacted me expressing concern about privacy when using a free Gmail account.
If you look closely at the privacy terms for other free email services, you may be surprised to find out that they aren’t too different from Google’s. Free email services don’t ask for money, what they deal in is your information. I think it’s often more noticeable with Google because they offer so very many services.
Click here to check out Google’s Privacy Policy.
Click here to check out privacy policies for AOL and Yahoo mail!
Click here to read the policy for Outlook.com and other Microsoft services.
Even if you get your email address through your ISP, they may use your information in a similar fashion. It’s a good idea to look up the privacy policy and see how they handle the information.
These days, advertisers aren’t content with just showing you ads. They want to show their ads to specifically targeted individuals who are more likely to click.
I have managed to survive my first 70 years without a Google account!
One realizes that privacy is mostly an idea from the past, but most other services are somewhat more encapsulated. Google is the IoAT (Internet of AllThings).
I have the same complaints about Microsoft, with which I am also unhappy. However, I don’t really have any viable alternatives to running Windows because I am not tech-savvy enough to run anything else. I have disabled all the snoopy options I can.