[thelist] RE: sending mail to someone you've never met
Steve Lewis
nepolon at worlddomination.net
Fri Oct 1 14:55:46 CDT 2004
M. Seyon wrote:
>> To my mind, the gmail invite was not commercial.
>
> It's not commercial to you, but it is to google. Google's entire
> business model seems to be largely built on selling advertising, of
> varying types - AdSense, paid listings, etc. Every additional person
> they sign up to gmail is more targeted advertising they can sell.
Very well put. I would add that there could be a perceived betrayal
of trust as well. By sending a Gmail invite, you (and I am referring
to Andrea, not marc) share the recipient's email address with a third
party. (It is my understanding that GMail invites are sent by
providing the recipient's address into a page on Google's site and
hitting submit, but I confess I have never seen this to verify it.)
Because of the concerns about privacy and UCE/UBE, any time you share
someone else's email address with a third party, you are potentially
compromising their privacy, and subjecting them to more spam.
Just because you have agreed to accept Google's privacy policy,
doesn't mean that everyone will.
This is particularly problematic in the world of eCards and other
"mail this to a friend" links, where the service provider has a
commercial business model, yet still provides free service to
consumers...clearly that provider has a conflict of interest in
protecting your privacy.
Your Level Of Paranoia May Vary.
--
Steve Lewis
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