Why is Gmail different than spam filtering?
From a technical standpoint, there is no categorical difference between Google “content extraction” and spam filtering– each involves an automated process that analyzes the body and/or header information of e-mail messages. However, from a legal standpoint, there is a fundamental difference between filtering out unwanted junk e-mail and analyzing the content of private communications in order to target advertisements. (See 1.3d “Bad Legal Precedent”) Additionally, Google may choose to create profiles of subscribers and the people with whom they e-mail, possibly cross-referencing other Google products (Google search engine, Orkut, etc).
From a technicalstandpoint, there is no categorical difference between Google “content extraction” and spam filtering– each involves an automated process that analyzes the body and/or header information of e-mail messages. However, from a legal standpoint, there is a fundamental difference between filtering out unwanted junk e-mail and analyzing the content of private communications in order to target advertisements. (See 1.3d “Bad Legal Precedent”) Additionally, Google may choose to create profilesof subscribers and the people with whom they e-mail, possibly cross-referencingother Google products (Google search engine, Orkut, etc).