The new Gmail update has gained some attention that Google may not have been aiming for when the rolled it out. The update integrated Gmail a bit more with Google+, allowing you to send emails to people whose email address you don’t have. Simply using their G+ as the “send to” in an email would work just as well, we covered the details in an article. Now that you have been caught up on what’s going on with Gmail and Google+, lets turn your attention to the lovely privacy advocates. The update has caught their attention, and they are not happy with it, one bit.
According to Reuters,the advocates stand by the idea that the option should’ve been more of an option we could choose to use or just simply ignore. Now that we know what they had to say about the feature, let’s find out who “they” are exactly. Marc Rotenberg who is the Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC, said that the update is “Troubling”. That is where Google wanted to make some corrections.
Firstly, Google wanted people to know, that even if you got an email from a stranger, your email address will not be given out, until you respond. If you choose not to respond, your email address remains private. Secondly, the emails sent to you by someone using this feature will go to a different section of your Gmail account, keeping it separate from people you know or already receive emails from. If you do decide to ignore the message all together, than Google, being the caring soul that they are, will automatically register that, and block any further emails from coming from the person you have ignored.
Furthermore, if you are unsure if this feature has been added to your account as of yet, Google has said they will send emails to users (which staffers here have already received) who are getting the feature, when they get it. You do however, need to be a G+ user to get that email alert from Google, if you aren’t a G+ user, than you have no worries.
Where do you stand on the matter, are you concerned about your privacy with this feature? Or do you think it will make things easier for you? Be sure to let us know on our Google+ page, or below.