WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security – today in a letter to Alphabet Inc. CEO Larry Page requested information about the privacy policy and practices associated with popular Gmail email service offered through subsidiary company Google. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet also signed the letter.

The senators request information pertinent to a report in The Wall Street Journal that third-party application developers, granted access to Gmail accounts by consumers, have used both human employees and automated systems to read user emails for a variety of purposes.

Excerpt from the letter to Alphabet Inc.:

“While we recognize that third party email apps need access to Gmail data to provide various services, and that users consent to much of this access, the full scope of the use of email content and the ease with which developer employees may be able to read personal emails are likely not well understood by most consumers.”

The letter requests a response by Tuesday, July 24, 2018. Click here  to read the full letter to Alphabet Inc. 

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