Google's controversial patent lets it spy on your email - Firstpost

Google's former motto of Do No Evil has taken on a twist. According to a post on HuffingtonPost, it seems Google has filed a patent that would spy on users' email and look for 'problematic/controversial' phrases. Basically these are all those things that you shouldn't be writing and runs foul of company policies and or laws of the land. Sounds scary right, given how much control Google already has over what's written in your email thanks to all those ads which are matched to key-words in your mail. Details of the patent are available at this link. The first paragraph reads, Methods and systems for identifying problematic phrases in an electronic document, such as an e-mail, are disclosed. A context of an electronic document may be detected. A textual phrase entered by a user is captured. The textual phrase is compared against a database of phrases previously identified as being problematic phrases. If the textual phrase matches a phrase in the database, the user is alerted via an in-line notification, based on the detected context of the electronic document.  What is Google trying to do with this patent? Associated Press Basically the feature would allow Google to not only figure out what are 'problematic/illegal' phrases but would also allow the search-giant to go and tattle on you to the right authorities, be it your boss or the state. As the article on HuffPo points out, The tool could not only inform a person that they've written something that violates protocol, it could also tell an individual why she's run afoul of the rules, suggest alternate wording that would be less risky and, crucially, alert third parties to the violation.  All-in-all, this just doesn't sound great. The biggest problem, other than the fact that this would be a blatant privacy violation, is the question of who decides what is, problematic phrasing. Would calling your government corrupt fall under that category? Sadly it could and its just plain wrong that you should be held accountable for being critical of an institution or your government in a private email. It's not just with governments, the fact is that companies could also use this to control overly-critical employees means your job could also be at serious risk. In short, Google's patent is just downright scary for your privacy, even more than Google Glass. via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFbr-PuqpB2HPDTWDMlnFQB414bsA&url=http://www.firstpost.com/tech/googles-controversial-patent-lets-it-spy-on-your-email-762677.html

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