Research carried out by free email operator GMX ('Attitudes to Email') has revealed that 40% of UK webmail users are unaware that their provider, which includes big names like Google's Gmail, often scan private messages for use in targeted advertising.

In addition a further 40% did not even known the practice took place, 33% would like an option to opt-out of the scanning, 18% weren't bothered by it and just 2% believed it to be in their best interest:


We must confess to being unaware of this practice ourselves, although many consumers seem to accept it as being par for the course of a "free" service. It certainly won’t help the current climate of concern surrounding personal data security.