Many of the free mail services scan your email content to use for advertising and marketing purposes. Please see:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/05/google-gmail-privacy-lawsuit_n_3871277.html.
For some individual and businesses the scanning of email content may present ethical and legal problems. For example, if a person exchanges email containing sensitive personal information with a doctor or attorney through a free email service, it is likely that the personal information will be scanned and used for directed advertising.
From this point forward the personal information with be associated with personal identifiers, such as email addresses, cellphone browser identifiers, and IP addresses, will be contained in one or more databases that are used for directed advertising and marketing. Some people have reported receiving spam email and seeing targeted display ads regarding their personal information.
Many companies manage their own Linux based mail servers for both privacy and flexibility. The Linux programs ‘Postfix’, ‘Dovecot’, ‘Spamassassin’, and ‘Procmail’ can provide excellent security and robust features when properly installed and configured on a Linux server. For example, the mail server can screen out SPAM and automatically sort mail into appropriate folders. A mail server can also direct mail to a script to automatically respond to literature requests or perform other tasks.
By using encryption technology such as SSL and TLS, your mail client (e.g. iPhone, Android phone, or desktop using Outlook or Thunderbird) can connect to your mail server over an encrypted link. This means that senders and receivers who both connect to your mail server will have encrypted connections with the mail server (although the mail will be in clear text on your mail server).
Email can also be encrypted end-to-end by using GnuPG (https://www.gnupg.org/index.html) with Dovecot (http://wiki2.dovecot.org/Plugins/MailFilter). This is a better solution for secure communications. For example, a company CEO and CFO who are exchanging email regarding a company takeover may need to ensure that all communications are private, even within their own company.
OTTStreamingVideo.net is expert in installing and configuring Linux servers and mail servers. Please contact us for more information.