GMail willingness to hold mail forever starting to bother me...

lgnki · 11 Jul 2005, 04:15 PM

My concern with privacy at gmail is not about people reading my email. It is about why Google is so intent on everyone keeping every email they send and recieve. Why make the delete button so tough to locate? It's akin to saying to a stranger: "Here, write down everything in this diary, you can keep it at my house!"

Edit: I mean, I don't care if google is reading my mail, but still... it's a little creepy don't you think?

**psalzer** · 11 Jul 2005, 08:02 PM

More geeky than ghouly. At least it reminds me of a geek that I used to know. He kept everything. I'm not talking about e-mail. I'm talking about every file that he came across to the extent possible. Every zip archive, every old game, every old version of every application he ever had. Come to think of it, his desk was something like that, too. When it became easier and cheaper to access large amounts of storage space, he went back to find duplicates of any files he hadn't managed to keep. I think the mindset is more like that. Space is cheap now, why bother deleting anything?

That's not my view. I delete. There's a greasemonkey script and a Firefox extension that puts a delete button in Gmail. I haven't used either, because most of these enhancements to Gmail become outdated and the move to trash selection isn't that hard to find. Once in trash, then there is a button.

dragon1 · 12 Jul 2005, 02:17 AM

^ I'm like that geek friend of yours. I keep old files of stuff I think I may need sometime in the future and have found that to be the case sometimes. In some instances the web sites I've gotten files from have gone "out of business" or no longer offer the files.

But with GMail I really do not want to keep everything so I use the Trash link and then permanently delete the Trash after about a week. Hiding the link, though, in a drop-down box and calling it "Move to Trash" is a bit cumbersome. Archiving and reporting spam is more important to GMail, it seems, warranting clearly visible and handy buttons.

Is it creepy? No. I wish I had more space in a few of my other non-GMail accounts, primarily Fastmail. But that's what I have GMail and Yahoo for.

**ReuvenNY** · 12 Jul 2005, 02:52 AM

The issue you are bringing up has been discussed extensively over the past year. Just do a search with "gmail" and "Privacy" on this forum.

11 Jul 2005, 04:15 PM	#1
lgnki Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 183	GMail willingness to hold mail forever starting to bother me... My concern with privacy at gmail is not about people reading my email. It is about why Google is so intent on everyone keeping every email they send and recieve. Why make the delete button so tough to locate? It's akin to saying to a stranger: "Here, write down everything in this diary, you can keep it at my house!" Edit: I mean, I don't care if google is reading my mail, but still... it's a little creepy don't you think?

11 Jul 2005, 08:02 PM	#2
psalzer Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 2,654	More geeky than ghouly. At least it reminds me of a geek that I used to know. He kept everything. I'm not talking about e-mail. I'm talking about every file that he came across to the extent possible. Every zip archive, every old game, every old version of every application he ever had. Come to think of it, his desk was something like that, too. When it became easier and cheaper to access large amounts of storage space, he went back to find duplicates of any files he hadn't managed to keep. I think the mindset is more like that. Space is cheap now, why bother deleting anything? That's not my view. I delete. There's a greasemonkey script and a Firefox extension that puts a delete button in Gmail. I haven't used either, because most of these enhancements to Gmail become outdated and the move to trash selection isn't that hard to find. Once in trash, then there is a button.

12 Jul 2005, 02:17 AM	#3
dragon1 Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: California Posts: 674	^ I'm like that geek friend of yours. I keep old files of stuff I think I may need sometime in the future and have found that to be the case sometimes. In some instances the web sites I've gotten files from have gone "out of business" or no longer offer the files. But with GMail I really do not want to keep everything so I use the Trash link and then permanently delete the Trash after about a week. Hiding the link, though, in a drop-down box and calling it "Move to Trash" is a bit cumbersome. Archiving and reporting spam is more important to GMail, it seems, warranting clearly visible and handy buttons. Is it creepy? No. I wish I had more space in a few of my other non-GMail accounts, primarily Fastmail. But that's what I have GMail and Yahoo for.

12 Jul 2005, 02:52 AM	#4
ReuvenNY Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: New York Posts: 4,259	The issue you are bringing up has been discussed extensively over the past year. Just do a search with "gmail" and "Privacy" on this forum.