Google Won’t Be Handing Over Any Of Your Gmail/Cloud Data, (Without A Warrant)

As the storage of our data becomes ever-increasingly based in the cloud, concerns regarding the privacy of this data have never been more prevalent.

Google, however, has announced that it will not be passing along any of your personal data or information relating to your Gmail (or cloud) accounts, without first requesting a warrant from the government (or law enforcement) agency who is requesting such personal information be released.

According to WIRED, “Google demands probable-cause, court-issued warrants to divulge the contents of Gmail and other cloud-stored documents to authorities in the United States,” a fact which the search giant revealed on Wednesday.

The revelation came as part of the company’s announcement that “more than two-thirds” of the user data it currently hands over to such government agencies in the U.S is actually given-up without a warrant.

A Google spokesman told Wired that the media giant demands that government agencies — from the locals to the feds — get a probable-cause warrant for content on its e-mail, Google Drive cloud storage and other platforms — despite the Electronic Communications Privacy Act allowing the government to access such customer data without a warrant if it’s stored on Google’s servers for more than 180 days.

Going forward, the company stressed that probable-cause, court-issued warrants will first be needed to be shown to the firm, before any data relating to Gmail or cloud documents can be divulged with government agencies who are requesting this data.

/ WIRED
/ Image Credit: Google Town Hall, London Headquarters – (Telegraph)