External applications can read your messages in Gmail. see how to avoid | E-mail

The WSJ lists several examples of companies that would have accessed user messages in the past. Many would have used automated systems to extract relevant information from the content. However, some services would have allowed humans to also browse e-mails exchanged by users.

Edison Mail, one of the many email applications that sync Gmail and other services to download messages on the phone, is one of the companies suspected of having to manage e-mail. But until then, we did not know that this content was available for reading by third parties. Edison Software's general manager, Mikael Berner, told the Wall Street Journal that a group of employees had direct access to user emails to develop a new automated response tool.

In addition to e-mail applications, price comparators and travel planners are among the services listed by the WSJ as being more likely to access the personal information of the user. To do this, it is sufficient that the special permission "Read, send, delete and manage your email" be granted at the time of connection, as shown in the screenshot above.

Although Gmail is the focus of the survey conducted by the US newspaper, reports suggest that reading e-mail may also be common in other services. According to the WSJ, the terms of use of Microsoft and Yahoo do not prohibit this type of practice. Here's how to protect yourself in all three email services with the following tutorials.

Step 1. Go to the Google Apps account permissions page (myaccount.google.com/permissions). In the "Third Party Applications with Account Access" section, search for an application that has access to Gmail.

Step 2. Click on it to expand the options and select the option "Delete access".

Step 1. Go to the permissions administration page (account.live.com/consent/Manage) of your Microsoft account. Locate an application with access to your Outlook information and select "Edit";

Step 2. Check the permissions you give to applications in your account. If you have permission to access your email, select "Delete these permissions".

Go to the activity page of your Yahoo account (login.yahoo.com/account/activity). In the "Apps connected to your account" section, select "Delete" next to the service with access to Yahoo Mail.