is gmail safe?

[super]

im looking for a good email that wont give me anything

[Sam!]

Gmail will come to your house while you're asleep and break your legs!

OK, seriously, Gmail is perfectly safe.

[super]

not my legs! okay ill try to convince my mom

[middletree]

I love Gmail and am pretty paranoid about security, if that tells you anything.

Some consider it a security problem because it reads your email to show you ads that are relevant to your interests, but I am not bothered by that.

[RevZeek]

I've had no problems with Gmail. I use it as my primary and a hotmail as a secondary.

[mat1583]

Gmail will come to your house while you're asleep and break your legs!

OK, seriously, Gmail is perfectly safe.

I don't think I'd go so far as to say "perfectly safe". In the digital world, nothing is perfectly safe. I would say it is relatively safe compared to other email applications out there.

-washboard

[BlueEyedBeauty]

I use Gmail and have no problems with it. I personally like it a lot better than AOL, which I had before. It's so much easier to store emails and such.

[Sam!]

I don't think I'd go so far as to say "perfectly safe". In the digital world, nothing is perfectly safe. I would say it is relatively safe compared to other email applications out there.

-washboard
Do you have any information that Gmail is in fact unsafe? Because I can think of several Hotmail security issues over the last few years.

Is it perfectly safe? OK, no it is not perfectly safe in the sense that it is impossible for anything to ever be any safer. Watching TV is not perfectly safe, because what if a meteor falls through the roof, ya know?

Gmail is at least as safe as any other web-based email application out there, to my knowledge. It is not unsafe.

[The Unknown Gomer]

And keep in mind that ANY email program is only as safe as you make it. Download a bunch of attachments from people you don't know, click on a bunch of hyperlinks within emails, even from companies you think you know, things like that, and NO email program is particularly safe.

Got another one today that looked like a completely legit email from PayPal. Until I got to the bottom of the page and it told me to click the link to update my profile. :rolleyes: I think not. I just immediately forwarded it to PayPal's spoof reporting address, and got back the usual response that Yes, that was indeed a bogus email, it was NOT from them. No kidding.

So whatever program you pick, gmail or whathaveyou, just be careful of what emails and such you choose to download from there...

[mat1583]

Do you have any information that Gmail is in fact unsafe? Because I can think of several Hotmail security issues over the last few years.

Is it perfectly safe? OK, no it is not perfectly safe in the sense that it is impossible for anything to ever be any safer. Watching TV is not perfectly safe, because what if a meteor falls through the roof, ya know?

Gmail is at least as safe as any other web-based email application out there, to my knowledge. It is not unsafe.

Irony: Google searched "gmail security issues". This is what I got: http://www.internet-security.ca/internet-security-news-009/gmail-security-flaw-opens-up-access-to-others-emails.html

-washboard

[SmileyFreak1981]

Irony: Google searched "gmail security issues". This is what I got: http://www.internet-security.ca/internet-security-news-009/gmail-security-flaw-opens-up-access-to-others-emails.html

-washboard
Yeah, and that's also dated January 13, 2005...Gmail was still in BETA then. I imagine that flaw is fixed now.

[Jason]

Yeah, and that's also dated January 13, 2005...Gmail was still in BETA then. I imagine that flaw is fixed now.

The article said the flaw was fixed that day.

[middletree]

Yeah, and that's also dated January 13, 2005...Gmail was still in BETA then. I imagine that flaw is fixed now.
It's still in beta now. Almost 3 years later.

[mat1583]

Oh, here's another more recent security hole:

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6045416.html

-washboard

[Aaron]

Another plus, Gmail has the best spam protection I've ever seen in my life.

[Izzy]

Depends on what you mean when you say "safe."

If you mean that your email is completely free from prying eyes, then no. The only way to get that is to encrypt all of your messages and then keep them on your own server. Anytime you send an email over a network there is a chance that someone you don't want to will be able to look at your message unless you encrypt it.

If you mean that it is free from viruses/spyware/etc., then no again. You're still responsible for not opening attachments (especially if they are from "friends" and you are not expecting them or have been previously notified they are coming...this is how worms/viruses spread, they go through your contacts) and just using common internet sense. That being said, the spam filters are probably the best I've seen with an online mail service.

Bottom line is that Gmail is no safer than any of the other online mail alternatives (Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, etc.) and it comes down to what you prefer using based on features, storage space, and accessability.

[Buttabean]

I love my gmail. I rarely get SPAM and other crap in my email, and I use this one as my main account. The junk filters are MUCH better than my Hotmail address. As far as I'm concerned, gmail is the way to go. :)

[super]

i just got a yahoo one but thanx 4 all of your help!

[rossid]

Yahoo question.

When I go to forward, click two, some of the address have "& amp", like this:

John &amp; Mary Smith <xxxxxsmith@x.com>;


???

[middletree]

That's the HTML character description for an ampersand. &quot is for quote marks. There are ones for apostrophes and many other characters.

It's done that way because some of those characters will mess up a SQL query, and email is stored in a relational database using the SQL language. So they put in a replace function to replace & with &amp, but the web developer messes up and forgets to convert it back again for display or emails.

[Gaudete]

That's the HTML character description for an ampersand. &quot is for quote marks. There are ones for apostrophes and many other characters.

It's done that way because some of those characters will mess up a SQL query, and email is stored in a relational database using the SQL language. So they put in a replace function to replace & with &amp, but the web developer messes up and forgets to convert it back again for display or emails.

I'm gonna pretend I understood that!!! :o

[rossid]

So do I need to change the ampersands to 'and's and how do I do it? Can't find anything I'm stumped...

Wait, answered my question, it looks like that is what I have to do.

The &quot was causing a lot of emails to bounce back undelivered.