The Trichordist

There are lots of people who have had lots of questions about Gmail, Google’s “free” email service.  You know, “free”–as in you give them your data and they sell it to advertisers to push ads to you in your emails based on–what exactly?

I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t believe that the ads get to your email by scanning your emails for keywords.  And therein lies the rub for doctors, lawyers and–world governments.  What does Google say about this?  Well, they don’t say they monetize your “information” (meaning your email correspondence).  They also don’t say that they read your mail, or at least not exactly.

Here’s what they say (or what they said today in response to criticism from Microsoft) according to Politico’s Morning Tech:

“‘Advertising keeps Google and many of the websites and services Google offers free of charge. We work hard to make sure that ads are…