Google Debuts Contextual Email Security. Hrm.

postini_google.jpg

Postini just released a few updates that include contextual email security. If your email, or an attachment to it, has a social security or credit card number in it, the message will be automatically gobbledy-gooked as it wizzes through the tubes.

If this all doesn’t go to shit, Google will probably debut Postini-esque security offerings for wikis, blogs and instant messages, says Google rep Adam Swidler to Internet News.

We know Google’s really married to this “contextual” thing but we just wanted to point out “contextual” can give rise to both appropriate and inappropriate algorithmic activities. Observe the dumb-fuckery resulting from bad (or maybe just inopportune?) contextual advertising: 1, 2, 3, 4 (and we could go on).

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Steve Hall

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