ATTN: Gmail Users! You're being monitored(duh)!

So, I just opened up the settings on my Gmail account and right there in the General Settings section is an option to enable or disable the use of "importance signals." It explains that certain "importance signals," which I'm assuming is Newspeak for key words or phrases, when used in your emails are then used to determine which advertisements appear onscreen when you're using Gmail. This is supposed to enhance your advertisement experience. The function's default setting is, of course, ON. I've since switched if off, though I'm sure this doesn't stop Google, or whoever, from scanning my emails for key words and phrases.

I wonder, is anybody else alarmed to see these kinds of features and functions not only on social networking sites, but right there on the nation's most popular email service? Should we be, or is this just a logical evolution of advertising? While waiting for videos to load online, I've seen ads which allow you to choose which particular ad you watch. You can just not click on it and the video still loads as usual. The ad agencies are just thinking of ways to get us to interact with and form a bond with their ad.

With companies using techniques like alternate reality games (ARGs) and actively trying to pull consumers into a fantasy world where the product seems like the answer to a mystery, are we buying into too many lies? Is it detrimental to our soul and spirit? Are we always capable of remembering that the people behind the ads and the products in them are, at the end of the day, mainly concerned with selling the product at a profit? Or do too many of us buy into the multiverse of fantasy worlds crafted by not only the advertising industry, but the Mass Media as a whole?

Yes me and my wife noticed this,so i would send an email to her just using some key words.We used the word SCOUT and guess what,an ad to join scouts popped up when she opened the email.

I havent seen that option yet, though I will check as soon as I finish this comment.

What I thought was weird is when you go to your trash and delete, when its clear its says something like "who needs to trash when you have so much space". Im thinking I must have just set off their radar, i trashed msgs so i MUST have something to hide. Maybe paranoia, maybe not.

In the end I think thats the case with most email services nowadays, especially the more popular ones. Why track what a few million people are talking about privately?

reply to post by WeBrooklyn


good point, they do put that bar at the bottom that always says "using 0% of available storage space." They might as well just scrap the delete function, but then they'd have to read embarrassing emails they sent to their own exes from three years ago, too!
peace.

Have you seen the documentary Google Inc? I think that was the one where they have this huge screen with earth, kind of like when you open Google Earth, it has dots all over the globe showing whos online in real time and in the corner of the screen is a small section with the searches popping up in real time also.

I wouldnt doubt that all you have to do is click just 1 user and BAM, all their history and emails and searches come up along with all of your personal info.

I think we should just go back to making simple telephone calls.

reply to post by RicoMarston

It explains that certain "importance signals," which I'm assuming is Newspeak for key words or phrases, when used in your emails are then used to determine which advertisements appear onscreen when you're using Gmail. This is supposed to enhance your advertisement experience.

Good find OP. I really was wondering why all these pretty women were appearing in my advertisements. Now I have the answer......

Now I'm not sure I want to turn that feature off or not.

There is absolutely nothing secure on the internet. NOTHING. Especially from people providing FREE email accounts.

Use aes256 and encrypt your messages as attachments to an email...and MAYBE your message will be secure.

But I think Google likely has a supercomputer by now cracking even 256bit encryption like a fat kid opening up a bag of Doritos.

The internet wasn't made for us. It was made to be used against us.

reply to post by RicoMarston

I wonder, is anybody else alarmed to see these kinds of features and functions not only on social networking sites, but right there on the nation's most popular email service?

No, I'm not surprised that Google is doing this with Gmail at all considering they've been scanning emails for keywords since Gmail was released. All their doing now is more or less scanning word frequency in your emails instead of just certain keywords. I'm actually sort of happy about this because the amount of ads that I'll see will decrease and those that I do see won't be for stupid; like having the word "Arabic" in the message somewhere and ads popping up in Arabic.

This is happening all over the internet. You can block them with certain add-ons. Right here on ATS, my add-on detects "Google Analytics", "Gorilla Nation", "Doubleclick" and "Quantcast". I believe they are all for statistics and advertising. Since I like supporting ATS, I have ad-blocker disabled for the site.

You could opt out .


But I would be under no illusions that if someone wanted to know more about me they could

....its the price we pay for access.

Switch it off all you want. If the government wants you, you can't run!

not to demean this thread but if big brother
is monitoring my e-mails, they will have the
most boring job in the world. I may send out
2 e-mails a week at most and would be
considered boring by about 99.9% of the
population. hahahaha

If they are using this resource on me,
then they are def wasting money.

Coming Soon: Better Google Ads! *

*

reply to post by boondock-saint


not demeaning at all, in fact, it goes along with how I feel about the subject. If we are all so boring and normal, and if terrorists and criminals are smart enough to not just email their plans to each other, then why? I guess it really must be more aimed at advertising. I just wish they'd be more upfront about it, I don't remember being told that my emails would be monitored.

No agency would bother monitoring e-mails in the year 2011..
No one uses e-mails anymore. Facebook on the other hand..

reply to post by Nventual


right. with facebook execs already talking about the amazing ad options, how long before the Big Evil industries just read our info like a library book? even stuff we don't want them to have or don't think they could. Microsoft execs are already talking about using the Kinect to advertise to people in the room wearing certain clothing brands or sports teams memorabilia. The Kinect cams would scan and ID everybody in the room playing games and tailor ads for them to pop up during load screens. creepy.

reply to post by RicoMarston


Gmail has been snooping through peoples email for ages. What they're doing now is freezing your account if you log on from different ip locations, and then asking you to enter your phone number. Facebook is also using this tactic to collect your data.

Yeah, I was super thrilled when I started getting Gmail ads related to highly personal medical information that could have only come from my emails. But you can turn it off. And there's really no such thing as privacy online anyway, never has been, from the earliest days. That's part of why it exists, the internet. It pisses me off too, but it's the shock at the loss of an illusion, nothing more.