Google is to change the way it scans emails after settling a case in a northern California district court. Emails will now be scanned once they are in the recipient's Gmail inbox rather than during the delivery process. The previous method meant that non-Gmail accounts were being catalogued as well, which led the plaintiffs in Matera vs. Google to argue that this violated privacy laws. In its ruling, Judge William Alsup said that Google's scanning of email was "intrusive" and "unreasonable." It is not clear whether the company benefited materially from its original scanning process.
Google is to change the way it scans emails after settling a case in a northern California district court. Emails will now be scanned once they are in the recipient's Gmail inbox rather than during the delivery process. The previous method meant that non-Gmail accounts were being catalogued as well, which led the plaintiffs in Matera vs. Google to argue that this violated privacy laws. Google agreed to change its scanning process rather than fight the case. It is not clear whether the company benefited materially from its original scanning process.