Some news stories have suggested that Google intends to keep copies of users' email messages even after they've deleted them, or closed their accounts. This is simply not true. Google keeps multiple backup copies of users' emails so that we can recover messages and restore accounts in case of errors or system failure. Even if a message has been deleted or an account is no longer active, messages may remain on our backup systems for some period of time. This is standard practice in the email industry, which Gmail and other major webmail services follow in order to provide a reliable service for users. We will make reasonable efforts to remove deleted information from our systems as quickly as is practical.

Protecting your privacy

Google takes privacy very seriously, and your trust is important to us. Gmail users should know:

Google does not share any email content or other personally identifiable information with advertisers.
No humans read any email messages to target advertising or related information that users may see on Gmail.
Users only see unobtrusive, targeted ads alongside their Gmail messages.
Google also takes several steps to guard the confidentiality of users' information by offering a number of industry-leading protections. Among other things, Gmail users benefit from:

Encrypted access (HTTPS) available via https://gmail.google.com.
An SSL-encrypted login by default. Your password is always encrypted when it is sent over the Internet.
Blocked transmission of executable files, which often contain viruses or spyware that scanners may miss.
No loading of external images by default. Many marketing or spam messages include hidden "web bugs" embedded in external images. Typically, when these images are loaded, the web bugs signal that the email address is active, thereby helping companies further perfect their recipient list for marketing or spam messages. Not loading external images helps to prevent this.
Minimized "referrer" header information. When you click on links in messages, the web browser that loads contains a referrer header. When you click on links in Gmail, Google takes steps to eliminate this referrer header, preventing others from knowing that you clicked on a link from an email.