Google agreed to make changes to the system scan emails in Gmail to avoid the trial of the case on violation of confidentiality.
The lawsuit against Google was filed in the court of Northern California in September 2015. The case has received the name "Matera versus Google".
The plaintiffs were users of other email services, not Gmail. These people are unhappy that they sent the emails scanned by Google. Of particular concern to them is the fact that messages are reviewed before reach the mailbox in Gmail.
The plaintiffs argue that the scanning of the correspondence violates Federal and local laws on privacy of users. According to them, this practice can be equated to the wiretapping of telephone conversations or the opening of the paper letters in the mail.
The fact that Google scans the content of emails sent and received through Gmail is not a mystery. The company collects this information to improve targeting of advertising.
In its proposal for settlement of the claim Google will not collect data for advertising purposes, as long as the letter does not get into your Inbox. The company will continue to scan messages for viruses and spam before they reached the mailbox.
Although end users will not notice changes, consent to Google for this move says about the company's readiness to make concessions on their own, and not following court orders.
Google's offering on the settlement of the claim is not yet approved by the court. In the case of adoption, the company also undertakes to reimburse the plaintiffs the costs of lawyers in the amount of $2.2 million.
