Gmail's upcoming self-destructing emails will require the recipients to click on a link and log in with their #Google accounts to see the content, if they are accessing via IMAP/SMTP.
Don't be fooled: Google's purpose is not to give us more confidentiality. They want all of their users to access their mailboxes via the Gmail app or their web interface, so they are creating a burden to the recipients and calling it “security” to convince people to adopt it.
I doubt the utility of such a feature.
I also don't doubt your point on this is more marketing than security.
@miramarco ProtonMail does something similar -- but its just a password, like with an interac e-transfer, actually. No login or anything. No ProtonMail account required. Google just isn't a company to be trusted, I think you are bang on.
@saltorito @miramarco Meh, #protonmail has its own share of problems... for starters their software is proprietary, not sure how someone could trust a so called encrypted email when we can't verify what their apps do on our devices.
@gutigen @miramarco You aren't wrong. I'd just put it in the "Best, for now" category. Its also strangely expensive for the paid plans whos features aren't especially unique or amazing.
@gutigen @saltorito @miramarco I would argue that you can check out the entire code. See https://github.com/ProtonMail?tab=repositories
@saltorito @miramarco
You can argue, but only web client source code is there... meanwhile Android, iOS, imap bridge - all proprietary.
@gutigen @mawe @miramarco I mean, its better than nothing. Its more than you get from Google or MS. So.. that's nice, of course with web apps like that though, there is no way to know what you are accessing is the same code as whats on github. Email just is kind of a pain in the ass. :(
@mawe @miramarco
Actually almost everything Google makes is open source and they contribute a lot to ecosystem, especiallu security-wise, so that's also not true (won't use their services though). If #protonmail was truly private and transparent platform they would commit to open source from the ground up. #proprietary software simply cannot be trusted.
@gutigen @mawe @miramarco I agree about proprietary software. But I don't recall seeing gmail code, nor can I search for it. I think their android mail client stuff is all open though, maybe not their new one.. I forget what its called. Either way that's client stuff which is ultimately less important that server stuff. I donno, I think if you really want to trust your mail you just have to make your own mailserver.
Pardon my French: they can go fuck themselves.
There is no way that I am ever clicking one of those links. If shit is confidential, e-mail is not the medium one should be choosing.
I have a well-kept archive of my e-mail since 2011. Only SPAM and newsletters get thrown out. Rest stays.
@h3artbl33d @miramarco +1. If I ever get one of those mails I will reply with "sorry, I think your email got corrupted, can you send it again?" 😅
I am putting up a webpage with why I consider those mails to be madness, setup a filter with an automated reply and route the received self-distructing mails to /dev/null.
@miramarco I dunno. Do they really benefit more by that than just having the email text in the first place? They can analyze it and use it to feed their ad algorithms either way.
@keiyakins My suspicion is that they want people to install their app, or at least access Gmail via their web interface, rather than using third-party apps they have little control on.
I mean, Gmail keeps welcoming me with an invitation to update and use their app, so I think that’s what their management is aiming at.
@miramarco
So, it's finally time to say goodbye to google. Shall not be too hard: AOSiP without google apps on my phone,
Startpage and DuckDuckgo as my searchengines, and
Openstreetmaps for Navigation. The only Email I still use for Spam and as fallback.
@miramarco exactly! Another non-standard feature to lock-in users.
@miramarco I will instead be closing my gmail account over this. I'm #boycotting even if it's a #boycott of one. which I sincerely doubt
@srid Here is one: https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/13/google-is-testing-self-destructing-emails-in-new-gmail/ but the news was covered by many other tech media outlets
@miramarco It's a clever technique. I love and use Gmail myself, but I don't think it should be required for things like this.
@miramarco This seems to be a serious security threat - an awful lot of malware is distributed through convincing people to click on links in emails and normalising the idea of clicking on a link to view a message is likely to mean that more people, particularly older people, are taken in by fake links spreading malware.
@miramarco
It actually /may/ be secure. The point is so they can show you ads. Google’s revenues are falling as they are not the 200 pound gorilla in the advertising business anymore, especially not in the mobile field.
@gergely I did not say that it cannot be secure. What I meant is: They use security merely as a selling point for a feature whose purpose is to drive people away from third-party apps. Of course this is all about more control over their users and deeper data gathering for their ads.
@miramarco
Not sure how else #google could implement self destruction without users being on the same platform. I believe this is how #protonmail does it as well.