As of Monday, Google has added a paragraph to its terms of service that it scans e-mail content, besides other reasons, for customised search results and advertising. This changes has happened because Google undergoes a lawsuit with a complain that Google violated the privacy of its users.

Following is the full text of Google’s terms of service addition related to e-mail scanning:

Our automated systems analyze your content (including e-mails) to provide you personally relevant product features, such as customized search results, tailored advertising, and spam and malware detection. This analysis occurs as the content is sent, received, and when it is stored.

You can read the complete privacy policy in the following link:

http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/terms/archive/20131111-20140414/

The lawsuit was made in 2013 by e-mail users with the allegation that the company was violating wiretapping laws because it was scanning the content of e-mails. Some of the petitioners argued that they sent e-mails to Gmail users from non-Gmail account. Thus, they did not give permission to scan the content. The matter is still pending with court.