How to Stop Services from Snooping on Your Gmail

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Do you know who's reading your messages?

In the wake of the huge Uber and Unroll.me scandal, people have a lot of questions. The scandal revealed that Uber was buying access to the emails of people subscribed to Unroll.me, a service designed to declutter inboxes.

Specifically, many are wondering what else may be lurking in inboxes and watching every click.

Unroll.me’s extensive access to its users’ email is clear in its privacy agreement, but many users were angry because they felt it was buried in fine print. (And who reads the privacy agreements anyway?) 

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So it's time to find out what apps and services are accessing your account and exactly what information they are taking.

Gmail users should go here to see everything that has privileges to their account. To see what specifically each app has access to click it and the window will expand with details. While you can't adjust the level of access, you can remove the apps and services you no longer want.

Users should also check what third parties they've given access to their Facebook account. To do that, go to settings, then apps, then edit. Under "Apps websites and plugins," users should click disable. Facebook users should also go to "Apps Others Use," and click edit and clear that out as well.

Keep in mind that not everything that has access is insidious, but each user should be able to judge that for themselves.