Gmail’s Latest Consent Box Is a Privacy Mousetrap
Disclaimer: This article is about the free version of Gmail (yourname@gmail.com). I haven’t tried Gmail for business, or G-suit, and do not know if it applies to them or not.
When I logged into my Gmail today, I saw a consent box asking me a bizarre set of permissions:
Due to my inherent skepticism for anything that offers a smartcut (smart shortcut), I clicked Turn Off + Next to proceed.
Here is what I saw after clicking Next:
I was baffled.
My first instinct was: Was this designed by a professional UX designer? How can Google expect me to flip a switch to turn-on/turn-off 12 features of Gmail?
Or was this someone who passed out from Google’s $49 courses that included User Experience design?
How can Google expect me to flip a switch to turn-on/turn-off 12 features of Gmail?
