Yahoo has come under fire after an update to the terms and conditions of its webmail and messaging service after critics claimed the move will enable the company to snoop on accounts in order to sell relevant advertising.
The new T&Cs say: “By using the services, you consent to allow Yahoo’s automated systems to scan and analyse all incoming and outgoing communications content sent and received from your account.”
It adds that Yahoo Mail users will not be able to opt-out of the feature, and that it is the responsibility of the individual user to inform non-Yahoo contacts that the content of their messages could be read by a third party.
Georgina Nelson, a senior in-house lawyer at Which?, advised any Yahoo users who object to the new terms to switch email providers.
“The obligation to notify those who email you that their message will be scanned is nonsensical and unrealistic. When exactly are you supposed to do this?,” she said. “This is another example of creeping behavioural advertising which, we believe, is a gross violation of Internet users’ privacy. Most consumers would be horrified to learn that their email can be read in order to open the door to targeted advertisers.”
Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch, argued that the changes would give Yahoo the power to analyse vast amounts of personal data. “Web users have a right not to see their personal communications trawled through in order to boost Yahoo’s ad revenue,” he added.
Yahoo defended the update by telling Which? the service would only identify “words, links, people and subjects from their email” in order to provide “personally relevant product features and content, to match and serve targeted advertising” as well as spam and anti-malware functionality.
