[COLUG] Mail server advice

[Scott Merrill]

On 1/24/08, Duane <duane at e164.org> wrote:
> Scott Merrill wrote:
>
> > I had run my own mail server since I got my vanity domain.  I just
> > recently switched to Google for Domains, for some of the same reasons
> > as you.
>
> As someone else has pointed out, the biggest concern I/they have with
> google, is google is primarily an information broker, and they offer
> these free services so they can easily collect more information.

I believe the primary goal of these free services is to put
advertising in front of my eyeballs.

I don't doubt that they are collecting information about my usage of
the site.  They may even be collecting information about me, as an
individual.  This is not entirely different from the way
brick-and-mortar stores track my purchases.  It's not entirely
different from the way Amazon.com monitors the products I look at but
don't buy.

> A month or 2 ago I saw an article about why computers should learn to
> forget, and well this is where my primary concern with Google lies, what
> you're happy to say and talk about now, is the same thing true in
> future?

Speaking solely for myself, I know which conversations belong on
email, and which belong on a telephone call or a face-to-face
conversation.  I'm fairly trusting of Google, but I'm not entirely
blind to the notion of keeping my personal data _personal_.

And of course there's always the option of GPG-encrypted mail.  The
FireGPG Firefox extension makes it easy to use GPG with the web-based
GMail interface.

> While they may not disclose information directly about you, they don't
> have to, to have interesting consequences, even meta information such as
>  to/from, or the types of keywords triggers by the emails can paint you
> in an interesting light.

I know a few Google employees, and I believe that they're working hard
to make technology do new cool and useful things.  I believe that
they're not interested in -- or supportive of -- working for a company
that would exploit its user base.  I might be wrong, but for now I've
seen nothing to make me uncomfortable using Google's services.