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Yahoo to Users: Let Us Read Your Emails or – Goodbye! As of June 1, 2013 all Yahoo email users are now required to upgrade to the company's newest platform, which allows Yahoo to scan and analyze every email they write or receive. According to Yahoo's help page, all users who make the transition agree to let the company perform “content scanning and analyzing of your communications content” to target ads, offer products, and perform "abuse protection." This means any message that Yahoo's algorithms find disturbing could flag a user as a bully, a threat, or worse. At the same time, Yahoo can now openly troll through email for personal information that it can share or hold onto indefinitely. http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?page=content&y=PROD_MAIL_ML&locale=en_US&id=SLN3254 Gay and haven't come out yet? Yahoo knows. Having an affair? Your spouse may not know - but Yahoo does. Any interests, ailments or projects you'd rather not share? You're sharing them with Yahoo, perhaps forever. The new tracking policy affects more than just Yahoo account holders. Everyone who corresponds with a Yahoo email account holder will also have their own message content scanned, analyzed, and stored by Yahoo, even if they themselves have not agreed to Yahoo's new terms of service. "Emailing through Yahoo means surrendering your privacy, whether it's your own account or your friend's," says Harvard-trained privacy expert Katherine Albrecht, who is helping to develop StartMail, an upcoming email service that will not scan its users' correspondence. "It's time we start paying attention to these policies, because they're growing more shockingly abusive every day," she added. Where prior versions of Yahoo had tracking policies buried in the fine print, the company's tracking agenda is now openly stated in paragraph 2: "When you upgrade you will be accepting our "Privacy Policy." That is, its anti-privacy policy. Concerned Yahoo users are invited to check out StartMail, a completely private email program slated for release this Fall. Anyone who would like to be a beta tester can visit StartMail (www.StartMail.com) and sign up for the upcoming release. Rest assured: That information will not be shared with anyone at all. Especially not Yahoo.
ABOUT DR. KATHERINE ALBRECHT • A popular media commentator whose views have been featured in more than 2,000 radio, television and print news stories. A dynamic radio personality who has hosted the daily syndicated radio show Uncovering the Truth with Katherine Albrecht since early 2007. • Author or co-author of six books and videos, including award-winning bestseller Spychips: How major corporations and government plan to track your every move with RFID and The Spychips Threat: Why Christians should resist RFID and electronic surveillance. • A highly effective privacy campaigner who combines thorough academic research, PR savvy, and social action to spotlight important privacy and freedom issues. • A sought-after public speaker and privacy expert. Katherine has been invited to address the Federal Trade Commission, The Federal Reserve Bank, The European Commission, the Royal Society of London, The International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, The International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, and multiple state legislatures. • The Director of CASPIAN Consumer Privacy (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering), an 18,000-member grass-roots organization she founded in 1999 to oppose shopper surveillance. • A frequent keynote speaker, lecturer, and public presenter informing decision makers, universities, civic leaders, and trade groups across the U.S. about technological threats to our freedoms. Event organizers rave about Katherine’s compelling keynote addresses and jaw-dropping, image-rich presentations. • Conversant on a wide variety of topics, including RFID, REAL ID, Human Microchip Implants, Government Surveillance, Encroachment on Freedom, Animal and Food Tracking, and Retail Data Collection. • Katherine holds a Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research focused on Consumer Education and Privacy issues. Katherine also received a Masters in Education (Ed.M.) from Harvard, with a concentration in Technology, Innovation, and Education. Katherine holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and International Marketing, graduating with magna cum laude honors.
Date Recorded: 6/6/2013
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