Not only is google reading confidential emails, they are also calling it ordinary business practise. Private businesses are spying on others and some people seem to think that the government doesn't.
Google improving encryption for Gmail... Google enhances encryption technology for email Mar 20,`14 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Google has enhanced the encryption technology for its flagship email service in ways that will make it harder for the National Security Agency to intercept messages moving among the company's worldwide data centers. See also: Microsoft says it snooped on Hotmail to track leak Mar 20,`14 -- Microsoft Corp., which has skewered rival Google Inc. for going through customer emails to deliver ads, acknowledged Thursday it had searched emails in a blogger's Hotmail account to track down who was leaking company secrets.
Granny don't use Gmail, `cause she don't want folks googlin' at her... Gmail Hack: 5 Million Passwords Get Posted on Russian Forum Sep 11, 2014 — Nearly 5 million Google user names and passwords were posted on a Russian Bitcoin forum this week. Though the passwords have since been removed, the information could have been public long enough to allow hackers access to Gmail and other services using a Google login. See also: Justice Dept. seeks new tool against data fraud Sep 12,`14: WASHINGTON (AP) -- Working to combat an increasingly lucrative crime that crosses national boundaries, Justice Department officials are pressing for a new law to help them prosecute criminals overseas who traffic in stolen credit cards.
So basically what they're saying is what anyone with a lick of sense should have known for years, to wit, if you don't want anyone to see it don't put it online. Any security system man can invent man can crack.
That's life - you should always assume that they'll violate your privacy, because they almost certainly will. If you have a bit of time, encrypt your message. Then it doesn't matter if they look at it, you've taken away their power to do so, even if they want to. Anything that involves a computer with a connection to the internet is at risk, even computers without a connection might have been hacked in person since you last used them. There's no such thing as complete security in the computer world. Accept it, choose a level of protection you're comfortable with, and move on. Oh, and always assume that an online service is perfectly willing to give over all your private information to the state. There's no protection against that even if they claim otherwise.
