Which.co.uk is reporting that Yahoo Mail, which is the world’s largest email provider, has changed its Additional Terms of Service (ATOS), to allow Yahoo to scan and analyse the content of all the emails you send and receive to “target relevant content and advertising”

Section C. of the ATOS, states:

“By using the Services, you consent to allow our automated systems to scan and analyse all incoming and outgoing communications content sent and received from your account (such as Mail and Messenger content including instant messages and SMS messages).”

“If you consent to this ATOS and communicate with non-Yahoo! users using the Services, you are responsible for notifying those users about this feature.”

Yahoo states this service as:

“To look for keywords and links to further protect you from spam and in time, serve users with interest-based advertising.”

“Users could then see pop-up ads that are relevant to keywords in e-mails both being sent and received.”

Apparently there is an opt out feature for Yahoo Mail users for this service.

However It’s pretty invasive to read every email you receive or send and even more so for those who aren’t customers of Yahoo Mail who send emails to someone who is.