This presentation is for the NET 303 unit at Curtin University, Australia. It is designed to act as guide and offer users a better understanding of Gmail's Terms of Service and other related policies.

1. Policy Primer
(Understanding Gmail’s Terms of Service)
By Brett Rule
Google and Gmail Logos are Registered Trademarks of Google Inc. Google screenshots are copyright of Google Inc.
They are used within this presentation under Australian Copyright Fair Dealing (Review and Criticism).

2. What is Gmail?
• Gmail is a free email service, that allows its
users to create an email account and
effectively access email from any web
browser or email application of their choice.

3. Why You Might Consider Using Gmail?
• You need a reliable, fast email account that can be
accessed from anywhere in the world.
• You receive a large amount of attached files via email
that you want accessible from anywhere in the world.
• You use smart phones, tablets, televisions, etc to
connect to the Internet in addition to standard desktop
PC’s and laptops.

4. But Before You Sign Up, There are
Some Important Things You Should Know
• Upon signing up for Gmail you must agree to Google’s
Terms of Service. Often the specifics of a Terms of
Service policy are not fully read or understood by users.
• The following slides attempt to highlight what I believe
are the key points to think about related to Gmail’s
Terms of Service Policy.

5. Terms of Service – Key Points
Google’s Terms of Service incorporates various program, privacy and
content policies. Google’s Terms of Service state…
• Using Google’s Services does not give you ownership of any intellectual
property rights in their Services or the content you access. You may not use
content from Goggle’s services unless you obtain permission from its owner
or are otherwise permitted by law. 
• Google may stop or suspend the service if they believe you are misusing the
Gmail service. A definition of misuse is defined in Google’s program policy
and is summarised in the following slides.  or  (Pending individuals
perspective)
 = Good Policy,  = Bad Policy  = Ambiguous /Unsure of Implications

6. Program Policy – Key Points
The most notable infringements which can result in account termination within
Google’s program policy include……..
• Generate or facilitate unsolicited commercial email ("spam"). 
• Send or distribute any unlawful, defamatory, harassing, abusive, fraudulent or
otherwise objectionable content.  - (What exactly is harassing content?)
• Illegally transmit another's intellectual property or other proprietary information with
out such owner's or licensor's permission.  - (Many users are guilty of this at some
stage or another. )
• Transmit content that may be harmful to minors. 
• Use the Gmail Service in connection with illegal peer-to-peer file sharing.
 - (What is considered illegal peer to peer file sharing?)
• Intentionally distribute viruses, worms, defects, Trojan horses, corrupted
files, hoaxes, or any other items of a destructive or deceptive nature. 
 = Good Policy,  = Bad Policy  = Ambiguous /Unsure of Implications.

7. Privacy Policy – Key Points
Google’s privacy policy states….
• Google collects information via two ways. Information users provide when creating an
account and the information from Google services such as location, log information
and search history, etc.  or  (Pending personal preference).
• Google may process your personal information on a server located outside the
country where you live.”  - (This may have legal effects if challenging Google in a
court.)
• If Google is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, we will continue to ensure
the confidentiality of any personal information and give affected users notice before
personal information is transferred or becomes subject to a different privacy policy. 
- (Suggests the possibility of personal data one day being transferred, acquired or
sold.)
 = Good Policy,  = Bad Policy  = Ambiguous /Unsure of Implications.

8. Privacy Policy – Key Points
Google’s privacy policy continued….
• We do not share personal information with companies, organizations and individuals
outside of Google unless with users consent, with domain administrators, for external
processing and for legal reasons. 
• Google provides some tools and settings to control elements of your privacy. 
• “We use the information we collect from all of our services to provide, maintain,
protect and improve them, to develop new ones, and to protect Google and our users.
We also use this information to offer you tailored content – like giving you more
relevant search results and ads.”  or  (Pending personal preference).
• The point above relates to advertising which is important in understanding and is
documented in the next slide.
 = Good Policy,  = Bad Policy  = Ambiguous /Unsure of Implications.

9. Other Areas of Concern - Advertising
Gmail will display advertisements within all Gmail accounts. You need to be
aware that……
• Gmail works in tangent with other Google services such as Google search to build an
extensive profile of your tastes and preferences for advertising purposes.  or 
(Depending on the individual.)
• Automated computer robots and scripts (not humans) read/scan your incoming and
outgoing emails. Advertisements are then displayed based on keywords used in your
emails to colleagues, friends, and family.  or  (Depending on the individual.)
• Effectively this could be considered a privacy breach, as your friends and contacts
may never have agreed to Google’s Terms of Service, yet their emails are being read
and scanned when emailing a Gmail account. 
 = Good Policy,  = Bad Policy  = Ambiguous /Unsure of Implications

10. Other Areas of Concern - Advertising
Displayed below is a Gmail account I use for my University studies.
• Gmail has noted my emails usually reference university or other academic topics
.Knowing this, Gmail displays advertisements they believe will interest me. In this
case, another course from an Australian college.  or  (Pending personal
preference).
Gmail displays Web Clip “Targeted” Gmail also displays advertisements here.
advertisements here. This form of There is no “simple” way to turn off these
advertising can be turned off. advertisements.

11. Other Areas of Concern - Content
Gmail allows you to submit content. So who owns your content?
• You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that
content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours. 
• “Google reviews content to determine whether it is illegal or violates our
policies, and we may remove or refuse to display content. But that does not
necessarily mean that we review content, so please don’t assume that we
do.”  - (Although unlikely, effectively this suggests you may be exposed to
offensive content from advertisers.)
 = Good Policy,  = Bad Policy  = Ambiguous /Unsure of Implications

12. Gmail. The Verdict!
For most “casual” users, Gmail’s advantages will probably outweigh the negatives. Gmail does
present some privacy concerns which are mostly related to advertising and marketing. If you
are comfortable with this form of profiling, Gmail could be a good email solution.
Pros - 
• Gmail is free and offers a generous amount of storage (Option to purchase more storage).
• Certain elements of advertising can be turned off.
• Very good SPAM filtering mechanism for all those “unsolicited” emails.
• Seamless integration with Android smart phones, smart TV’s and tablets.
Cons - 
• Gmail will add profiling data to your (probable already) existing Google profile.
• Gmail also scans and extracts keywords and data from incoming mail. Privacy breach?
• No 100% guarantee Google will not one day in the future sell profiling data.
• Steps to minimise profiling data can be convoluted and tricky to implement.
• Possibility users can be exposed to offensive material (advertisements).

13. References
Electronic Privacy Information Center. (N.D). Gmail Privacy FAQ. EPIC.ORG. Retrieved October 13,
2012, from http://epic.org/privacy/gmail/faq.html
Google. (N.D). About Gmail. Gmail Program Policies. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from
https://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/en/program_policies.html
Google. (N.D). About Gmail. Terms and Privacy. Retrieved October 12, 2012, from
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/en/terms.html
Google. (N.D). Gmail. Ads in Gmail and Your Personal Data. Retrieved October 15, 2012, from
http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=6603
Google. (N.D). Gmail. Storage Plan Pricing. Retrieved October 13, 2012, from
http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2375123&topic=25063&ctx=topic
Google. (N.D). Google. Ad Preferences. Retrieved October 15, 2012, from
https://www.google.com/settings/u/0/ads/preferences/#optout
Google. (2012). Google. Policies and Principles. Retrieved October 12, 2012, from
http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/
Marketing Age. (2012). Yahoo Mail vs Gmail vs Hotmail. Retrieved October 11, 2012 from
http://sedatedworld.com/?p=1054