email privacy

[pasusan]

I realize internet privacy issues have been discussed before... I've always felt relatively immune because I do most my surfing with Firefox, I don't sign in to Google, and I don't belong to Facebook. With my phone it's another matter - every app I run I am signed in so they know what I'm doing.

I've had the same AOL email address since 1994 and yesterday I got this message:

New Privacy and Terms

You appear to be a (United States - English) user. If this is not correct, please select the option that applies to you from this list:

AOL is now part of Oath, the media and tech company behind today’s top news, sports and entertainment sites and apps.

By choosing “I accept” below, you agree to Oath’s new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Below is a summary of some of the key updates. To learn more about our approach to privacy, click here.
How we collect and use data.

We’ve updated some of the ways we collect and analyze user data in order to deliver services, content, relevant advertising and abuse protection.
This includes: analyzing content and information when you use our services (including emails, instant messages, posts, photos, attachments, and other communications), linking your activity on other sites and apps with information we have about you, and providing anonymized and/or aggregated reports to other parties regarding user trends.

Combining data.

We also combine data among our services and across your devices. This will provide you with better personalized services and features across your devices and Oath accounts.

Tampering with US Mail is a federal offense. Why isn't email treated the same way? And why is all this privacy invasion considered acceptable?

I guess I should be asking if there is a different way to do email than through these data collection companies....

[1492]

You should assume that all email services, whether free or paid auto scan your emails. They need to do so for spam/malware detection. It's what they do with the scanned info that is not always clear?

As mentioned, never write anything in an email that you don't want a third party to read. There are technical ways, and services that can secure e-communications. Though these tend to require some type of setup or account creation from both you and the email recipient(s).

So if you want to keep your current email address, and need to send something private? Then you may want to send the message via an strongly encrypted attachment? Contact the recipient via phone, and and give them the password key? Never send the password by another email.

The free 7-zip can create a strong encrypted AES-256 archive attachment easily from any file.

[GordonThree]

Pgp has been "broken" recently. Or a long time ago if you're the tinfoil hat type. Guessing it depends who you're trying to keep secrets from. GnuPG with a 4096 byte key should keep most passers-by out of your email. Don't expect it to hold up against the NSA+Google quantum computer though.

[Dutch_12078]

For one agency I do some document editing work for, we email sensitive documents as dual password protected PDF files, compressed as password protected TAR BZ2 files. The passwords are sent in separate text messages.

[ljr]

fj12ryder wrote:
"The Bat" email client has easily used PGP if you want to send secure email. I've never used it so I don't know how secure it actually is, but basically you write your email, click on the PGP in "The Bat", and away you go. Of course the person on the other end needs to be able to decode the message, but it seems to be fairly easy.

PGP stands for “Pretty Good Privacy” and it is.

You’ve hit on the rub though. The people on both ends have to first securely exchange keys. That’s a problem when you aren’t face to face with each other. X509 certificates accomplish the same thing but you have to pay a third party to make sure everybody is who they claim to be.

[fj12ryder]

"The Bat" email client has easily used PGP if you want to send secure email. I've never used it so I don't know how secure it actually is, but basically you write your email, click on the PGP in "The Bat", and away you go. Of course the person on the other end needs to be able to decode the message, but it seems to be fairly easy.

[bwanshoom]

ljr wrote:

DavinD wrote:
Email encryption is an option. Working in a medical company we use it all the time as it's required for HIPAA.

That means X509 certificates and SMIME capable clients on both ends. That’s quite a learning curve to climb.

Agreed. There is no user-friendly encrypted email solution on the market.

[Bumpyroad]

pasusan wrote:

drsteve wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
What happens if you simply do not "click" to say you agree. Just ignore it. See what happens. But ... they are going to collect your data anyway. That agreement is not an agreement YOU have to agree with. All they are doing is informing you of what THEY are going to be doing now ... with or without your consent.

The law requires that they obtain your consent before collecting and using your data. I would expect that at some point, those who do not accept the terms will no longer be able to access their accounts.

This was in the email I got today:

What You Need to Do

We have designed these changes to help improve your experience with Oath and its brands. To review and agree to the new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, please click the button below. These changes go into effect as soon as you consent.

--Review and agree now--

Please note that although our services will continue to be available under the existing terms for now, you will eventually need to agree to the new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy in order to continue to use our services. If you have any questions or need additional help, please refer to this link.

Thank you for your continued loyalty and support.

Sincerely,
Oath

So far I've been clicking "I'll do it later". We'll see how long that will be accepted.

same here
bumpy

[pasusan]

drsteve wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
What happens if you simply do not "click" to say you agree. Just ignore it. See what happens. But ... they are going to collect your data anyway. That agreement is not an agreement YOU have to agree with. All they are doing is informing you of what THEY are going to be doing now ... with or without your consent.

The law requires that they obtain your consent before collecting and using your data. I would expect that at some point, those who do not accept the terms will no longer be able to access their accounts.

This was in the email I got today:

What You Need to Do

We have designed these changes to help improve your experience with Oath and its brands. To review and agree to the new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, please click the button below. These changes go into effect as soon as you consent.

--Review and agree now--

Please note that although our services will continue to be available under the existing terms for now, you will eventually need to agree to the new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy in order to continue to use our services. If you have any questions or need additional help, please refer to this link.

Thank you for your continued loyalty and support.

Sincerely,
Oath

So far I've been clicking "I'll do it later". We'll see how long that will be accepted.

[drsteve]

DutchmenSport wrote:
What happens if you simply do not "click" to say you agree. Just ignore it. See what happens. But ... they are going to collect your data anyway. That agreement is not an agreement YOU have to agree with. All they are doing is informing you of what THEY are going to be doing now ... with or without your consent.

The law requires that they obtain your consent before collecting and using your data. I would expect that at some point, those who do not accept the terms will no longer be able to access their accounts.

[ljr]

DavinD wrote:
Email encryption is an option. Working in a medical company we use it all the time as it's required for HIPAA.

That means X509 certificates and SMIME capable clients on both ends. That’s quite a learning curve to climb.

[Bumpyroad]

K Charles wrote:
Email doesn't seem to serve much purpose in my opinion. I get many adds, religious, dirty and political jokes from my mom and links to some YouTube videos from my brother. I check it every 2 or 3 weeks and never see anything earth shattering.

better than burying your nose in a smart phone 24/7/365
bumpy

[DavinD]

Email encryption is an option. Working in a medical company we use it all the time as it's required for HIPAA.

[AsheGuy]

K Charles wrote:
Email doesn't seem to serve much purpose in my opinion. I get many adds, religious, dirty and political jokes from my mom and links to some YouTube videos from my brother. I check it every 2 or 3 weeks and never see anything earth shattering.

Email is simply a fast method to communicate with other people. It's easy to block anyone you don't want to communicate with. No, it's not secure (unless encrypted) but I don't care. I use it all the time and have since it's initiation many years ago and have suffered no ill effects. 🙂

If you don't need it, don't use it.

[K_Charles]

Email doesn't seem to serve much purpose in my opinion. I get many adds, religious, dirty and political jokes from my mom and links to some YouTube videos from my brother. I check it every 2 or 3 weeks and never see anything earth shattering.