Yes - it is common knowledge that Google (and others) use email for advertising.<p>But you (or perhaps upthread) are implying that Google willingly hands over data to government authorities.<p>The evidence would point to the contrary: Google (and Microsoft I might add) are complying with the law, but are not simply rolling over and handing out whatever is asked of them.<p>Their ability to fight back against unwarranted requests is probably much better than someone running their own mail server in their basement.