Google: Non-Gmail Users Have No Legitimate Expectation Of Privacy (Updated)

Here's some more bad news to add to the pile of concern over email vulnerability, a brief filed by Google's attorneys has just surfaced and revealed that Gmail non-Gmail users who exchange emails with a Gmail user should have "no legitimate expectation of privacy"—ever.

The brief, unearthed by Consumer Watchdog, was filed on July 13, 2013 in response to a class action complaint against the company to the United States District Court for Northern District of California in the hopes that the court would dismiss the case. According to the document, users should assume that any electronic corresponded that finds its way to Google's servers can and may be full accessed and used for a whole slew of purposes, including selling ads.

According to the motion:

Just as a sender of a letter to a business colleague cannot be surprised that the recipient's assistant opens the letter, people who use Web-based email today cannot be surprised if their emails are processed by the recipient's [email provider] in the course of delivery. Indeed, 'a person has no legitimate expectation of privacy in information he voluntarily turns over to third parties.' Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 743-44 (1979).