<div>As I see it, the real issue is just how secure do you think email really is? If someone really wants to read that FW you sent to your mom, there are plenty ways for them to do this, especially if they have physical access to the computer you used. Computer Forensics can be quite interesting and with the right tools and know-how, it's really not that difficult to look at websites you've been to (even if you cleared your history), including web-mail pages.
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<div>As far as Gmail retaining a copy on the server or not, it makes perfect since for them to store copies to allow for retransmission of the message in the case of an error, not to mention how your "Sent Mail" folder does in fact reside on their servers.
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<div>Bottom line:</div>
<div>Email is NOT a secure communications medium and should not be relied on as if it were. If the information you are sending/receiving is of a particularly sensitive nature, I would suggest you find some other medium, such as SSL with encryption.
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<div>-John</div>
<div><br>-- <br>There is intelligence is in having all the answers, but wisdom lies in knowing which of the questions to answer.</div>