Gmail likely to clear U.K. privacy hurdles

Google’s forthcoming e-mail service probably won’t run into legal issues in Britain, as long as the company doesn’t deceive customers about how their personal information will be treated.

Google’s Gmail is planned as a free, Web-based e-mail service, similar to Microsoft’s MSN Hotmail and Yahoo Mail. One difference, though, is that the search giant says it will offer 1GB of storage–compared with 2MB offered by Hotmail and 4MB by Yahoo.

But privacy advocates are unhappy that Google is planning to scan e-mails and add advertisements that it thinks are relevant to the context of the messages. Last week, Privacy International urged Britain’s information commissioner to take action against the service.

But the word Tuesday from the commissioner’s office is that, as long as Google is upfront about its plans, the company should have no problem offering the service in the United Kingdom.

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