Right to read user emails

Yahoo, Google and Apple claim the right to read user emails.

Like Microsoft, other webmail giants all reserve the right to read user emails, if ‘deemed necessary’.

Microsoft isn’t the only one to make the decision – Yahoo, Apple and Google also claim the right.

This surfaced following Microsoft’s admission that it read a journalist’s Hotmail account in an attempt to track down the source of an internal leak. The fact that most webmail services state that they do this to ‘protect their property’ is not in any way making me feel better about the situation.

Yahoo requires users to “acknowledge, consent and agree that Yahoo may access… your account information and Content… in a good faith belief that such access… is reasonably necessary to… protect the rights… of Yahoo.”

Google’s terms require the user 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”.

Apple “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”.

I guess that if you want the convenience of the service, you sign up with the terms and deal with it.

I imagine that most people don’t read terms and conditions before they sign up for a service, and suppliers take advantage of this, knowing that when push comes to shove in a legal arena, they already have it sewn up.