SOME Australians have discovered Google has trawled through personal email archives as it set up access to its new Gmail web phone service.

Google launched the service to take on online communications pioneer Skype.

Local users logged-on to their accounts yesterday to discover a new directory of phone contacts listed under a voice calling link, along with an offer for some free calls and prices for international calls to landlines and mobiles.

A Google Australia spokeswoman confirmed the phone lists are compiled from data extracted from users’ emails and chat sessions.

Google has not responded to repeated requests for clarification on the nature of internal account searches and the extraction methods used to populate personal web phone menus, nor has it indicated whether it sought users’ approval before taking action.

But online privacy advocates say it appears Google has not learned from outrage over the Buzz social networking tool that automatically connected users based on data mined from personal emails and chat sessions, nor from the angry reaction to Facebook changes to privacy settings that exposed previously hidden material.

“As far as I can see, Google has done this without even notice, let alone consent,” said Roger Clarke, chair of the Australian Privacy Foundation. “And they’ve learnt so little that they seem not to have offered an opt-out.”

David Vaile, executive director of the University of NSW’s Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre, said it appeared Google’s auto-exposure tools were getting a little out of control.

“This has shades of Buzz,” he said. “When will big data-mongers ever learn that opt-in is much more respectful than ‘opt-out – if you can’.”

Mr Vaile questioned whether Google had clearly and transparently disclosed their use of its tools to everyone potentially affected by their operation.

Google confirmed that local users registered under the English-US language setting can access the web phone service, that has not officially launched in Australia.

Source:   http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/telecommunications/gmail-phone-service-raises-eyebrows/story-fn4iyzsr-1225910912539