[governance] Fwd: [IP] Google’s Gmail Keyword Scanning Might Violate Wiretap Law, Judge Finds

[Suresh Ramasubramanian]

--srs (iPad)

Begin forwarded message:

> From: David Farber <farber at gmail.com>
> Date: 27 September 2013 4:42:47 IST
> To: "ip" <ip at listbox.com>
> Subject: [IP] Google’s Gmail Keyword Scanning Might Violate Wiretap Law, Judge Finds
> Reply-To: dave at farber.net
> 
> 
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne at warpspeed.com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Google’s Gmail Keyword Scanning Might Violate =?windows-1252?Q?_Wiretap_Law=2C_Judge_Finds_=
> Date: September 26, 2013 5:41:26 PM EDT
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net - Sent by <dewayne at warpspeed.com>
> Reply-To: dewayne-net at warpspeed.com
> 
> Google’s Gmail Keyword Scanning Might Violate Wiretap Law, Judge Finds
> By DAVID KRAVETS
> 09.26.13
> <http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/09/gmail-wiretap-ruling/>
> 
> A federal judge today found that Google may have breached federal and California wiretapping laws for machine-scanning Gmail messages as part of its business model to create user profiles and provide targeted advertising.
> 
> The decision by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh was rendered in a proposed class-action alleging Google wiretaps Gmail as part of its business model. Google sought to have the federal case in California dismissed under a section of the Wiretap Act that authorizes email providers to intercept messages if the interception facilitated the message’s delivery or was incidental to the functioning of the service in general.
> 
> “Accordingly, the statutory scheme suggests that Congress did not intend to allow electronic communication service providers unlimited leeway to engage in any interception that would benefit their business models, as Google contends. In fact, this statutory provision would be superfluous if the ordinary course of business exception were as broad as Google suggests,” Judge Koh wrote.
> 
> Gmail, including its business service called Google Apps, is the world’s biggest email service, with some 450 million users globally.
> 
> The decision is also a blow to Yahoo, whose free email platform with more than 300 million users also scans email to deliver ads. Microsoft’s rebranded free Outlook webmail offering does not scan messages of its 400 million users.
> 
> It was the second time this month that a federal court has found Google potentially liable for wiretapping.
> 
> Just yesterday, Google asked a federal appeals court to reconsider a recent ruling finding Google potentially on the hook for wiretapping when it secretly intercepted data on open Wi-Fi routers.
> 
> The Mountain View-based company said the September 10 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will create “confusion” about which over-the-air signals are protected by the Wiretap Act, including broadcast television.
> 
> That case concerns nearly a dozen combined lawsuits seeking damages from Google for eavesdropping on open Wi-Fi networks from its Street View mapping cars. The vehicles, which rolled through neighborhoods around the world, were equipped with Wi-Fi–sniffing hardware to record the names and MAC addresses of routers to improve Google location-specific services. But the cars also gathered snippets of content.
> 
> The search giant yesterday petitioned the San Francisco-based appeals court to reconsider its decision that allowed the case to proceed at trial — a ruling that upended Google’s defense.
> 
> Like the appeals court ruling, Judge Koh’s decision guts Google’s wiretapping defense in the Gmail case.
> 
> No trial date has been set.
> 
> “The ruling means federal and state wiretap laws apply to the internet. It’s a tremendous victory for online privacy. Companies like Google can’t simply do whatever they want with our data and emails,” said Jon Simpson, the privacy director for Consumer Watchdog of Santa Monica, California.
> 
> [snip]
> 
> 
> 
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/>
> 
> 
> 
> David Farber
> 
> Carnegie Mellon University 
> Adjunct Professor of Internet Studies
> 
> University of Pennsylvania
> Alfred Fitler Moore  Emeritus Professor of Telecommunications
> 
> Cell: +1-412-726-9889
> Email: dave at farber.net
> 
> Public Key Fingerprint: 2133 594F 87C6 DC11 8BCD 6897 F46C 3C84 91C7 03FA
> 
> 
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