The Problem
Privacy (often misunderstood as secrecy) is recognised as a fundamental human right in almost all modern civil societies, and is a cornerstone of democracy. However, it goes without saying that all major free email service providers, such as Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook.com etc., do not adhere to the highest standards of privacy protection. Although they have made their systems top notch in terms of convenience and security (from external attackers), your email communications are not private from them. Since you do not pay them for their service, they get their revenue elsewhere such as from advertisement companies to whom your data is the product. Anyway, even if they decide to stop using your email conversations for targeted advertisements, they still have the ability to read your personal correspondences at their convenience. They do not even need a warrant. A rogue top-level employee could read your emails for malicious purposes, for instance. Also, what about the idea of mass surveillance of whole populations by governments (for example, to suppress dissent or activism)? Are you comfortable with that kind of snooping (which is very different from a targeted search and seizure upon warranted suspicion of a crime)? Of course, all of this happens with your permission because you agreed to their privacy policy when you signed up for the free account.
