加利福尼亚州一位参议员4月12日表示，她正在草拟一项法案准备阻挠Google名为“Gmail”的免费电子邮件服务，原因是该服务将使得关键词搜索广告出现在个人信息当中。这位名为丽兹-菲古罗阿的议员表示：“我认为这种电子邮件服务绝对是一种对隐私的侵犯，这等同于在用户的家里放置一块大型广告牌。我们要求Google对这一服务进行重新考量。”

　　Google于3月底宣布计划推出Gmail，这一服务提供的邮箱容量高达1GB，是雅虎和MSN等免费邮件服务容量的100倍还多。但是，作为大容量免费邮箱的交换，用户必须同意允许Google扫描其收到的邮件，同时在邮件当中放置有关联的广告。例如，一位用户收到了一个朋友有关患上感冒后症状的邮件，里面可能就会出现治疗感冒的广告。

　　隐私保护人士认为，上述刊载广告的做法侵犯了用户的隐私权。为此Google在一份声明中表示，其将与数据保护机构合作来确保用户的担心得到关注和解决。行业分析人士认为，上述服务是Google的一项核心产品，因为其可以增加广告营收同时扩大Google的业务范围，以便加快该公司上市的步伐。

　　SAN FRANCISCO, April 12- A California state senator on Monday said she was drafting legislation to block Google Inc .'s free e-mail service "Gmail" because it would place advertising in personal messages after searching them for key words.

　　"We think it's an absolute invasion of privacy. It's like having a massive billboard in the middle of your home," Sen. Liz Figueroa, a Democrat from Fremont, California, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

　　"We are asking them to rethink the whole product," she said.

　　In late March, the world's No. 1 Web search company announced plans to launch Gmail -- a service that would offer users 1 gigabyte of free storage, more than 100 times the storage offered by other free services from Yahoo Inc.  and Microsoft Corp. 

　　But in return for the extra storage, users would agree to let Google's technology scan their incoming e-mail, then deliver targeted ads based on key words in the messages. For instance, a user receiving a message about a friend's flu symptoms might also receive ads for cold and flu remedies.

　　Gmail is now being tested with a limited number of users. Privacy advocates are assailing Gmail even before its formal launch. Google faces heavy opposition in Europe, where privacy laws are stricter than they are in the United States.

　　European groups recently lodged a complaint with UK authorities, charging that Gmail may violate Europe's privacy laws because it stores messages where users cannot permanently delete them. Europe's privacy protection laws give consumers the right to retain control over their communications.

　　Google said in a statement that it intends to work with "data protection authorities across Europe to ensure their concerns are heard and resolved."

　　Industry analysts see the service as a key product for Google because it would boost revenues from advertisers and expand its business as the Mountain View, California-based company nears an expected initial public offering of stock.

　　Figueroa, who was the author of California's "Do-Not-Call" law that allows citizens to block telemarketing calls, said she was pursuing the legislation because she had not yet received a response to an April 8 letter to Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, in which she laid out her concerns.

　　"We received the letter from Senator Figueroa. We appreciate her feedback and will take it into consideration as we build the best possible webmail service for our users," Google said in an e-mailed statement.

　　FREE STORAGE ENTICEMENT

　　The Gmail service would bring Google into into the market for free e-mail services now dominated by Yahoo Inc.and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN. Those rivals have been challenging Google's core Web search business.

　　More than two dozen privacy groups in the United States and Europe have demanded that Google suspend Gmail's launch until privacy issues are adequately addressed.

　　The groups charged, among other things, that scanning e-mail for ad placement poses unnecessary risks of misuse and that the system sets "potentially dangerous precedents and establishes reduced expectations of privacy" in e-mails.

　　"We are confident that Gmail is fully compliant with data protection laws worldwide," Google said in a statement.

　　"Google has the highest regard for the privacy of our users' information. We have taken great care to architect Gmail to protect user privacy and to deliver an innovative and useful service," said Google, which added that it is actively soliciting user feedback on its privacy policies.