Google scans content of your Gmail messages

Tens of thousand of Gmail account holders in Ireland may be using the email service without realising the company routinely scans the content of their messages.

Google, which runs Gmail, has been praised for catching images of child abuse in an account holder’s email which has led to the arrest of a convicted sex offender in the US.

However, the company’s discovery has caued some disquiet over the fact that the internet giant is monitoring the communications of private individuals.