Yahoo Tells Users: Let Us Read Your Emails or -- Goodbye!

SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF DR. KATHERINE ALBRECHT -  (www.katherinealbrecht.com/  and www.gaiamtv.com/KatherineAlbrecht  ARE TWO WEBSITES YOU CAN RESEARCH.  KATHERINE NOT ONLY  IS THE HOST OF HER OWN BROADCASTS,  BUT IS A FREQUENT GUEST ON OTHER BROADCASTS.   AN AVID FIGHTER FOR OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS,  KATHERINE HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE PURSUIT OF EMAIL AND WEB SURFING PRIVACY.  SOME MAY KNOW HER BY THE SPONSORSHIP OF HER BROADCASTS BY IXQUICK AKA STARTPAGE.  BELOW IS AN EMAIL JUST RECEIVED FROM KATHERINE RELATING TO THE PRIVATE EMAIL SYSTEM THE COMPANY  IS IN FINAL STAGES OF PERFECTING.  YOU MAY WANT TO CONTACT THEM ABOUT IT.  THE ADDRESS IS BELOW.  

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <info@startmail.com>
Date: Fri, May 31, 2013 at 7:57 PM
Subject: Yahoo Tells Users: Let Us Read Your Emails or -- Goodbye!
 

Email Privacy is big news this week with Yahoo giving users just 30 days to switch over to their new email platform starting June 1st.   Yahoo's new privacy policy says the company will perform "content scanning and analyzing of your communications content" on all emails sent through Yahoo accounts. Talk about abusive!  Please see our press release below for details.

The good news is that StartMail internal beta testing will begin on June 24th. As we come down the home stretch of developing a fully state-of-the-art, private email alternative, your support means more to us than ever.

We look forward to welcoming you with a trial StartMail account this Fall when our full beta launch takes place. We know you are eagerly awaiting your trial account and we appreciate your patience.  We will be sending out regular updates in the immediate days and weeks to come, so stay tuned.

If you're not yet signed up as a beta tester, you can sign up at www.StartMail.com.

This is an exciting time to be working on privacy -- and we're so glad you're on board!

Sincerely,

Dr. Katherine Albrecht and The StartMail Team

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MAY 31, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Yahoo Tells Users: Let Us Read Your Emails or -- Goodbye!,
https://www.startpage.com/eng/press/yahoo-reads-your-mails.html

NEW YORK: As of June 1, all Yahoo email users are required to upgrade to the company's newest platform, which allows Yahoo to scan and analyze every email they write or receive. According to Yahoo's help page, all users who make the transition agree to let the company perform "content scanning and analyzing of your communications content" to target ads, offer products, and perform "abuse protection."

This means any message that Yahoo's algorithms find disturbing could flag a user as a bully, a threat, or worse. At the same time, Yahoo can now openly troll through email for personal information that it can share or hold onto indefinitely.
See: http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?page=content&y=PROD_MAIL_ML&locale=en_US&id=SLN3254
Archived at: https://www.startpage.com/graphics/yahoo-mail-upgrade.jpg

Gay and haven't come out yet? Yahoo knows. Having an affair? Your spouse may not know - but Yahoo does. Any interests, ailments or projects you'd rather not share? You're sharing them with Yahoo, perhaps forever.

The new tracking policy affects more than just Yahoo account holders. Everyone who corresponds with a Yahoo email account holder will also have their own message content scanned, analyzed, and stored by Yahoo, even if they themselves have not agreed to Yahoo's new terms of service.

"Emailing through Yahoo means surrendering your privacy, whether it's your own account or your friend's," says Harvard-trained privacy expert Katherine Albrecht, who is helping to develop StartMail, an upcoming email service that will not scan its users' correspondence. "It's time we start paying attention to these policies, because they're growing more shockingly abusive every day," she added. 

Where prior versions of Yahoo had tracking policies buried in the fine print, the company's tracking agenda is now openly stated in paragraph 2: "When you upgrade you will be accepting our ...Privacy Policy." That is, its anti-privacy policy.

Concerned Yahoo users are invited to check out StartMail, a completely private email program slated for release this Fall. Anyone who would like to be a beta tester can visit StartMail (www.StartMail.com) and sign up for the upcoming release.

Rest assured: That information will not be shared with anyone at all.

Especially not Yahoo.

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