Google Gmail hit by US Senate interference

The California state Senate on Thursday approved a bill that takes aim at Google's new Gmail service, placing strict limits on email providers seeking to scan customer messages for advertising and other purposes.

The bill passed after revisions that removed a key provision that would have required email providers to win the consent of anyone sending messages to their service before scanning messages.

Senator Liz Figueroa, Democrat and the bill's author, said: "My legislation guarantees that our most private communications will remain just that – private."

In a statement, Google said it is taking a neutral position on the bill as it continues to work with Figueroa on the measure.

A statement from Google read: "Google has worked in good faith with Senator Figueroa and her staff to address her concerns about privacy and online communications. We believe we have reached conceptual agreement on most of the key points, but we have not yet reached agreement on all the details. As is the norm in the legislative process, work still remains on the specific language of the bill."

The Senate action comes as Google is seeking to fend off an unexpected backlash against Gmail, a web-based email service that turned heads when it was unveiled in late March with an offer of 1GB of free storage.

Evan Hansen writes for News.com