Now, Google has officially admitted that it not only provides Gmail account data to third‑party developers, but also allows them to share this data with others.
Google has strongly supported its policies by saying: “Developers can share data with third parties, provided they are transparent with users about how they use such data.”.
The tech giant already explained in a blog postthat it allows third-party services such as email clients, trip planners, and customer relationship management systems to scan Gmail data.
Although Google claims that email messages are usually read in an automated way, there are people who also have access to them – a fact that is quite concerning.
Google's head of public policy in the US, Susan Molinari, wrote in a letter to lawmakers that «the privacy protection policy is easily accessible to users, so they can review it before deciding whether to allow access to their data».
Users can check the apps they have granted access to on the Google Account page and choose to revoke permissions from apps they do not wish to share their data with. Or they can choose not to download these apps at all.
Those who are concerned about protecting sensitive email data should immediately disable the permissions granted to third‑party developers in Gmail.
