It kinda sounds like Telecom may be switching from the half baked inconsistently maintained solution they have been using to Yahoo! Mail's standard service. Is that the case or is something different going on?
gzt: It kinda sounds like Telecom may be switching from the half baked inconsistently maintained solution they have been using to Yahoo! Mail's standard service. Is that the case or is something different going on?
Yahoo are retiring their old "Classic" Web Mail interface. They have gone and contacted those customers saying they are retiring the old UI and making people upgrade to the new UI.
That's the back-story. It's just unfortunate the email reads the way it does.
This is the Telecom NZ Yahoo!mail service announcement email I received.
I have 2 separate xtra account ids but have so far only got this message received by one of the accounts. I dont see the option of using a POP client to handle my emails as any different to using the webmail, am I correct in thinking that the @xtra.co.nz address will only remain accessible to me if I agree to the new terms required by Yahoo? I pay my ISP for an email address, I expect it to be private, secure and fully compliant with NZ laws including the telecommunications acts and privacy acts. It seems to me that these new terms require that all emails to and from me would be subject to content scanning including identifiable information by Yahoo, and that I am also required to inform my recipients that this is the case with any email they send or receive via Yahoo. I read all the links provided by the email. None of the options seem to enable me to continue with my paid email service @xtra.co.nz without using Yahoo.
Subject: Yahoo! Xtra Mail is upgrading: What it means for you.
Thank you for being a loyal Yahoo! Xtra Mail user! We are excited to bring you the new Yahoo! Xtra Mail.
Starting the first week of June, you will be prompted to switch to the new Yahoo! Xtra Mail. The switch will be seamless and instantaneous--everything in your existing Yahoo! Xtra Mail account (emails, contacts, folders and attachments) will move over.
Don't want to wait? You can have the new Yahoo! Xtra Mail today.
Switch now
What You Can Look Forward To When You Upgrade
Faster email Cleaner, easier-to-use design Also available on all major mobile devices: iOS, Android, Windows 8
Learn more about the new Yahoo! Xtra Mail
Your Alternatives
If you're not ready to switch now, that's fine, but we recommend that you do so soon. You may access your current version of Yahoo! Xtra Mail for at least 30 days from the date of this email. After this time, your current version of Yahoo! Xtra Mail will no longer be available. On the day of the switch you will be required to agree to the new Communication Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, or review Yahoo! Xtra Mail Help for other options.
Welcome to the Yahoo! Xtra Mail.
David McDowell Senior Director Product Management, Yahoo! Mail
Do I have to upgrade to the new Yahoo! Mail?
Resolution
Beginning the week of June 3, 2013, older versions of Yahoo! Mail (including Yahoo! Mail Classic) will no longer be available. After that, you can access your Yahoo! Mail only if you upgrade to the new version. You should have received an email from Yahoo! letting you know that your account required an upgrade.
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
When you upgrade, you will be accepting our Communications Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This includes the acceptance of automated content scanning and analyzing of your communications content, which Yahoo! uses to deliver product features, relevant advertising, and abuse protection.
If you prefer to opt out of interest-based and contextual-based advertising resulting from your scanned and analyzed communications content, you can change your settings at any time using our Ad Interest Manager.
Other Options
If you don’t want to use the new Yahoo! Mail, you may consider these other options:
Download your Yahoo! Mail using IMAP: IMAP allows you to access your email from a different email program, such as Outlook, Mac Mail, or your mobile device’s application. You can download your data to your personal computer or device using an IMAP program. However, in order to continue using Yahoo! Mail you will need to accept the Communications Terms of Service. See instructions for accessing Yahoo! Mail using IMAP. Transfer using a service like TrueSwitch: We would be sad to see you go, but if the new Yahoo! Mail isn’t right for you, please visit a third-party provider, like TrueSwitch, to learn how to transfer your emails and contacts out of your account. Close your account: Learn how to close your account.
Mail Plus accounts
If your previous version of Yahoo! Mail is no longer available and you would like to cancel your Mail Plus subscription as a result, you are eligible for a prorated refund for the unused portion of the service. See our refund policy and cancellation instructions.
just a guess, but I think you will find it is compliant with telecommunications and privacy act as long as you agree to it. Other than that it is obvious xtra does not comply with expectations as an email provider.
I imagine they would have no trouble aliasing your existing address (without passing through Yahoo's service) to a provider which meets your expectations. I have no specific knowledge but I think you will find they do this on a regular basis for business customers. It might be a bit new for home users but not difficult if xtra already have the facility.
I'm old fashioned. I like Telecom and I joined xtra early enough to have a two letter xtra email address.
So this is not a bash at Telecom but ...
@ Thunderbird5
I am also concerned at this outsourcing move, especially after Telecom said it was looking at bringing the service back inside … I guess that's gone out the window along with a thousand jobs.
@ ajobbins - 'Other free providers like gmail and hotmail will also scan you mail content for similar reasons.'
An xtra email address is not 'free' ...
As for gamil and hotmail - not true. Yes Gmail scans but Microsoft services like Hotmail, Live, and Outlook do not.
Microsoft make a particular point of this:
Oh, and just in case you wondered www.scroogled.com is a Microsoft web site dedicated to point out that despite popular opinion it not MS that's evil but ....
Part 2 Interception duties Duty to have interception capability 7 Network operators must ensure public telecommunications networks and telecommunications services have interception capability (1) A network operator must ensure that every public telecommunications network that the operator owns, controls, or operates, and every telecommunications service that the operator provides in New Zealand, has an interception capability.
(2) However, subsection (1)—
(a) does not require a network operator to ensure that all components of the public telecommunications network or telecommunications service referred to in that subsection have an interception capability; and
(b) is sufficiently complied with if a network operator ensures, in whatever manner the network operator thinks fit, that at least 1 component of that network or service has an interception capability.
(3) Without limiting subsection (1), the duty under that subsection to have an interception capability includes the duty to ensure that the interception capability is developed, installed, and maintained.
Correct me if I'm wrong but.... I remember years ago hearing that part of telecom's issue was they could not take advantage of newer Yahoo servers as they could not offer the interception capability that is required by NZ law.
ajobbins: Other free providers like gmail and hotmail will also scan you mail content for similar reasons.
Really, if you need to be sure this isn't happening to you, you need to host your own mail server.
Most paid services shouldn't do any scanning of any kind, apart from normal spam protection. It is mainly the ones that are mainly advertising companies, such as google that scan mail and use that information.
No issues with lawful interception, applies to all electronic communications.
It's the data mining to serve targeted advertisements that's the problem. Oh, along with leaks like illegally captured WiFi 'sample' data files, browser history, etc.
Forgot to log out of Google in a cyber café leaving a browser session open? Ooops
JY: No issues with lawful interception, applies to all electronic communications.
It's the data mining to serve targeted advertisements that's the problem. Oh, along with leaks like illegally captured WiFi 'sample' data files, browser history, etc.
Forgot to log out of Google in a cyber café leaving a browser session open? Ooops
If you don't like that, then don't use gmail or facebook, or probably any social media or free webbased email platform. Your aren't a customer of these services, you are the product that they are selling. It ultimately means that you have to pay for services, as the free ones do have a cost.
JY: Which bring us neatly back to the fact that you have to pay for xtra it's not free ...
If you feel that strongly about it perhaps you should vote with your wallet and switch to a provider that does run in house email servers/services....
You will of course no longer be able to use an @xtra address but that neatly brings up another point:
Using a ISP provided email address is a form of lock-in, you are better off transitioning to an email address independent of your ISP so you have less barriers to changing provider in the future.
Out of the big free email providers (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft) yes Microsoft's outlook.com does have the best privacy policy: "With Outlook.com, the contents of your personal conversations aren’t used to serve ads. We don’t read your messages or attachments to send you advertisements. Period."
Alternatively your own NZ domain name can be had for $20/yr and you can host email where ever you like then (lots of options paid and free), doesn't have to cost much and will probably will cost you less then being locked into using Telecom forever because you use an xtra address as your main email.
Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly
to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.
ID Verified
Trusted
