I wouldn't say Google is trying to convince anyone they "have" to have your data in this case. If you use GMail, they already have it, so why not?

Ummm, for you to use Gmail, they HAVE to have your data... Where do you think that email is stored?

There's a big difference between just storing and routing it, and processing every line and generating personal profiles off of it. o_o

Well you have two options, pay for email, or use gmail for free in exchange for allowing this.

I'm all for privacy, but sometimes you guys go way overboard and complain and act entitled like Google is obligated to offer Gmail free of charge with nothing in return.

I'd be happy to pay for good private email service. But of course, Google doesn't offer it. Because offering that sort of option would be a much more obvious admission of how much they rifle through your data as an income source.

My issue is not that they offer a business relationship where they use your data for money, my issue is how shady they are about it.

Google has always been obvious about all their products and services being for selling more advertising.. They figured out how to make a great income from it, and nobody would pay for email at the cost it'd have to be to make the same as they do.

Remember, all the good stuff they do, all depends on revenue dollars coming in. And in the end, they're still a company looking to make a profit.

Agreed. This provides most of the functionality of GMail without the ads and snooping.

Try advertising this to lawyers, who can't use GMail because Google snoops the mail. Consider offering a premium version that understands more legal terminology about things like court dates.