Nearly half of American consumers (46%) admit to having concerns about their free email provider scanning personal emails for advertising purposes, according to research released today by GMX.
GMX offer a free email service with more than 11 million active users. From those that use a free email service, an alarming 30 percent did not know that it was common practice for large email providers to scan private emails for keywords that are linked to targeted advertising. The survey of 1008 US consumers(1) also found that Americans are heavily reliant on their free emailservices, with 80 percent of Americans using 1-3 separate personal accounts.
The GMX 'Attitudes toward Email' study found that while the American public are heavy users of free email services, 46 percent of Americans were worried about how most free email services allow the content of their emails to be scanned in order for suitable advertisements to be placed around them. Negative responses ranged from embarrassment to anger.
More than one-third of Americans (37 percent) believe that users should be able to opt out of such scanning. 21 percent of respondents were not bothered by the practice and only 3 percent believed that the practice was in their best interest. Remarkably, the study reveals that a further 30 percent of the US public is unaware that free email providers routinely allow their users' emails to be scanned for tailoring ads.
Eva Heil, Managing Director, GMX, said, "It is understandable that many Americans are wary about their private emails being scanned for advertising reasons. It is certainly important that every user is at least informed if this is done by their email service. At GMX, we treat emails just like sealed letters, and so we will never scan private email content in this way."
All email providers, including GMX, automatically scan incoming email content in order to help identify SPAM emails, however many competitors use private email content in the body of an email to target advertising to the individual user. The analysis of this content seems to be a sore point for many consumers. There is a stark contrast between consumers' everyday reliance on free email services and their uneasiness about their privacy. The figures lend weight to the assumption that most free email users take the scanning of emails to be the 'price' they pay for using a free service. Heil added, "Most users only realize that their personal emails are being scanned after noticing strangely optimized ads around their Inbox. Consumers should bear in mind that they have a choice of free email services that don't do this. If they are uncomfortable with the practice, they should seek out a provider that focuses on privacy and does not scan email content."
With over 11 million active users, GMX draws on over a decade of free email expertise and is well placed to offer a reliable, secure service. Besides great looks, great performance and tate-of-the-art functionality, GMX.com offers the widest selection of first-choice addresses such as name@gmx.com.
Free email has grown up, find it at GMX. The new free email service can be seen at www.gmx.com
(1) 1008 US adults surveyed in July 2008 via electronic feedback form conducted by MaCorr Research
About GMX
GMX is a specialized freemail provider with more than 10 years of experience and more than 11 million users. With its reliable and powerful webmail system, GMX provides a comfortable email solution for private usage. Its features and convenience rival those of traditional client-based software that require installation on your computer. GMX guarantees optimum performance as well as high mail security and customer privacy with data centers located in Europe and the United States. GMX Internet Services Inc. (Global Mail Exchange) is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Internet Group, a publicly listed company (ISINDE0005089031) with a market cap of more than $7.4 billion and some 3,500 employees, and a pioneer of communication via the Internet.
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