YOU DON’T SAY: New Warning Reveals Gmail’s Major Privacy Problem.

Privacy advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have hit out at Gmail’s “confidential mode” warning that it is not secure or private.

It comes after Google turned confidential mode on by default for business users this week (June 25). The feature adds more control by allowing senders to create expiration dates and revoke previously sent messages. Meanwhile, confidential mode prevents recipients from forwarding, copying, printing, or downloading their content or attachments.

But experts have criticised the feature for not being as secure as it sounds. Calling the feature “confidential” mode “creates privacy and security expectations that the product just doesn’t meet,” says Gennie Gebhart, associate director of research at the EFF.

“Confidential mode emails are not end-to-end encrypted, for example, which means that Google can see the contents of your messages,” she says.

At the same time, Google can technically even store them indefinitely, regardless of whether you use the ‘expiration date’ feature, Gebhart points out.

PLUS: Google accused of inappropriate access to medical data in potential class-action lawsuit.