Letters to the Editor

A great loss

To the Editor:

Can the University be willing to consider turning its e-mail facility over to Google ("Penn Webmail may be replaced," DP, 4/18/06)? That corporation has not concealed the fact that it reads and indexes all of the e-mails that Gmail users send out. Its aim is to tailor ads to users, which of course increases its income. The possibility of generating income in other ways is always there.

As a co-founder of the corporation cheerfully puts it, "The contents of your Gmail account also are stored and maintained on Google servers in order to provide the service. Indeed, residual copies of e-mail may remain on our systems, even after you have deleted them from your mailbox or after the termination of your account."

Since the cookie that stores your search index sits alongside the one that tells Google -- and those it sells the information to -- exactly who you are, accepting a Gmail account means giving up all claims to privacy.

Google is proudly committed to helping the Chinese government identify anyone who sends e-mails that violate state security rules. If you don't want to entrust your personal communications to that sort of corporation, make sure Penn does not stumble into this wasps' nest.

Nathan Sivin

History and Sociology of Science professor

Misdirected funds

To the Editor:

I write with regard to the article announcing President Gutmann's intention to spend a further $106 million on the high rises ("Dorms may get $106M facelift," DP, 4/12/06).

It noted that approximately $16 million would be spent this summer upgrading, among other things, the air conditioning in those buildings.

Perhaps the president should consider fitting air conditioning units in college houses without them (such as Gregory, DuBois or Hill) before upgrading the units in those buildings that already have them.

Eric Sukumaran

College sophomore

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