Yahoo sued in California for allegedly intercepting emails
The plaintiff seeks damages of $5,000 for each person whose privacy was allegedly invaded
New York: Yahoo! Inc. was accused in a lawsuit of intercepting emails sent to users of its mail service and using personal information to profit from related advertisements.
The plaintiff seeks damages of $5,000 for each person whose privacy was allegedly invaded, according to a complaint filed on 15 November in federal court in San Jose, California. Information gleaned by scanning communications between users and non-users is used for tailoring advertisements to them, increasing Yahoo’s revenue, according to the filing, which cites the company’s published policies for its new email service.
“Yahoo’s automated systems scan and analyse all incoming and outgoing communications content sent and received from your account,” says the policy, according to the lawsuit. The purpose is to “match and serve targeted advertising and for spam and malware detection.”
Lawsuits against Internet companies and social networks are rising as use of the web balloons and users become more aware of how much personal information they are revealing, often without their knowledge. Google Inc. and LinkedIn Corp. also are facing accusations of intercepting communications for their own profit at the expense of users or non-users.
Sarah Meron, a Yahoo spokeswoman, declined to comment on the complaint.
Ads bring in three-quarters of Yahoo’s revenue, according to the complaint. With more than 275 million customers globally, Yahoo mail is one of the largest web-based email services, the plaintiff said. Bloomberg
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Business NewsCompaniesYahoo sued in California for allegedly intercepting emails
First Published:17 Nov 2013, 11:02 AM IST
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