Gmail's third-party app policy: Security experts explain the risks

The terms of service we hurriedly agreed to keep coming back to haunt us.

Last Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google confirmed previous reports about the far-reaching access third-party apps can have to Gmail users' accounts and personal emails.

When you download an app, it might request access to your Gmail account. But what you might not realize when you grant access is that these apps may analyze your Gmail data — including the content of your emails — for their product, and potentially for targeting ads. Apps are also allowed to share your information with third parties, as long as Google determines that it adequately discloses that to users. The Journal previously reported that "hundreds" of apps can scan the email of "millions" of users. Read more...