California: Yahoo has been accused of accessing the content of emails sent to its users from non-Yahoo Mail accounts. Following the allegation Yahoo will face a class action lawsuit from the United States. A Californian judge ruled that the people who sent emails to or received emails from Yahoo Mail users from 2 October 2011 can challenge the company as a group, for granting it class action status. It has been estimated that there are over one million members in the privacy lawsuit. Yahoo is being accused of using the stolen data to boost their advertising revenue. The non-Yahoo Mail users said that the company had been intercepted and analyzed their emails comprising of various attachments with an intention to establish “targeted advertising” for its 275 million mail subscribers. Last year, nearly 80% of Yahoo’s revenue was from its search and display advertising categories. The judge also ruled that a group of holders of non-Yahoo accounts in California since 2 October 2012 may also challenge as a group for privacy violation. The accusers have sought an injunction banning Yahoo from allegedly spying on emails, along with damages. In its defense, Yahoo argued that some of the

litigators continued to email Yahoo subscribers, despite being aware of Yahoo’s activities and in doing so, they have been consented to Yahoo in accessing their email contents. According to the judge, a class action lawsuit can easily enable the group to receive larger damages and more wider range of resolutions at a lower cost.   Video on Yahoo’s email spying