Communication security

Google says it's not reading your Gmail, except when it does...

Google was hauled over the coals this week for reportedly giving hundreds of app makers access to millions of inboxes belonging to Gmail users.

The Wall Street Journal reported that users who signed up for "email-based services" like "shopping price comparisons," and "automated travel-itinerary planners" were most at risk of having their private messages read.

In response to the story, Google published a blog on Tuesday detailing how third-party developers have to go through an involved review process before they are given access to Gmail.

Suzanne Frey, Google Cloud's director of security, trust, and privacy, also said that Gmail's 1.4 billion users hold the keys to their own data and can control permissions.

In the same piece, Frey was at pains to point out that Google itself does not read user emails.

Gmail automatically processes emails to filter out spam and phishing messages, which Frey said had "caused some to speculate mistakenly that Google 'reads' your emails."