>>That is incorrect. The reality is that email can easily be encrypted and secured against most all intrusion attempts except perhaps state agencies with massive resources. Even then, current strong encryption techniques I think are still unbroken (PGP, AES, etc.)

Have you participated in that? I have and it's a pita unless you know 100% of your email recipients and they have the correct plugins and keys. Ironically if often requires unencrypted email instructions to get the encrypted one sorted!

>>Your phrasing is misleading. Google do not "peruse" emails. Automated software scans emails for keywords and phrases and tries to add adverts that might be relevant. Humans are not perusing them. But that is not the problem with 3rd party mail providers anyway.

Perhaps "peruse" is the wrong word. But aren't we told to base response planning on capability rather than stated intent? It doesn't really matter what the vendor claims: apart from the Sony hacks and the recent Fappening release of nude celeb pics from their "private" Apple repositories including pics they thought were deleted: there's quite a famous case in NZ where a political blogger's gmail somehow was lifted en masse and used to embarrass government. A Minister lost her job over it. Google "dirty politics." We all need to accept that nothing online is private and that private stored content *is* being perused, if not today then before long. IMHO.